One of the lessons learned during the recent COVID pandemic concerns the need for reusable personal protective equipment (PPE). A new, easily decontaminated composite textile material for PPE has been developed by Rice University researchers to prevent future accumulation of waste generated by increased use of single-use PPE and to cope with future supply chain shortages.

The self-sterilizing material can be included in the manufacture of gloves, masks and other wearables. The textile can handle hundreds of uses in PPE; its inclusion in a single pair of gloves is estimated to prevent production of the nearly 20 lb of waste that would be generated from discarded single-use nitrileA glove made of the new material that kills coronaviruses with heat without burning users’ skin. Source: Gustavo Raskosky/Rice University gloves.

The lightweight material textile is composed of an electrically conductive layer on the outside and an insulating layer on the inside. Surface decontamination is accomplished by Joule heating while the PPE is being worn: an electrical current boosts the temperature of the outer layer in excess of 100° C (212° F). The inner layer remains close to body temperature at a maximum of about 36° C (97° F).

As reported in the journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, such targeted heating was demonstrated during laboratory testing to inactivate viruses, including the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen responsible for COVID, within 5 seconds.

Other technologies are also being pursued to address the waste problem posed by single-use PPE. These include cold plasma treatment, repurposing used face masks as ingredients for supercapacitors and recycling discarded PPE as a component in concrete.