Enhanced Design of PPE Based on Electrostatic Principle to Eliminate Viruses (SARS-CoV-2)

The ongoing global pandemic due to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is in the crucial stage. The vaccine is still at the developing stage. Currently, the only way to check the spreading of this virus is self-isolation. It is reported that a good number of health workers are infected while treating patients suffering from COVID 19. Therefore, an effort is made to develop a system that can enhance safety and check unwanted viruses. Although the complete specification of the SARS-CoV-2 is yet to be evaluated, the present work considers the characteristic of SARS-CoV-1, which closely relates to that of SARS-CoV-2. The proteins are one of the most important structural and functional molecules of the virus; therefore, few properties of a protein are considered. In this work, we propose a sanitization procedure of the personal protective equipment (PPE), such as gloves and masks, before and after the use, by employing high voltage charge generator (30 kV) from a very low DC source of 5 V to eliminate the virus from the surface of PPE. The positive output is connected to a metallic surface coated with carbon nanotubes (CNT) or a metallic surface ablated using lithography to achieve desired nano-grooves of 200 nm. At the tip of these nano-grooves, a very high electric field is generated which readily ionises the air in the vicinity of the tip. The high electric field alters the induced dipole of the protein of the virus, causing permanent damage in terms of electroporation. Further positive salt ions diffuse into the protein of the viruses, causing it inactive and disintegrate.