The third season of Why Not Change the World? The RPI Podcast kicks off this week with a deep dive on a research project aimed at making self-disinfecting masks — an urgent need in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

With the support of a National Science Foundation Rapid Response Research (RAPID) grant, two Rensselaer researchers are examining ways to equip N95 respirator masks with antiviral properties and the ability to withstand sterilization. These improvements would better protect health care workers and enable the current supply of masks to last longer.

This research effort is a collaboration between Helen Zha, an assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering and a member of the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies at Rensselaer (CBIS), and Edmund Palermo, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering and a member of the Rensselaer Center for Materials, Devices, and Integrated Systems (cMDIS). Due to the ongoing pandemic, Zha and Palermo were both interviewed remotely for the episode.

Zha’s expertise in making ultrathin protein and polymer coatings on surfaces, combined with Palermo’s expertise in antimicrobial polymers, form an ideal partnership for this investigation, which is a more complex challenge than some may realize. The researchers must determine what readily available, nontoxic polymers could deactivate viruses like the one that causes COVID-19, increase the mask’s barrier to the virus, and maintain the protective properties of the mask through sterilization — all while preserving breathability.

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