IIT Madras-incubated startup comes up with coating that neutralises coronavirus – Economic Times

NEW DELHI: Indian Institute of Technology Madras-incubated start-up Muse Wearables is developing novel and scalable methods for coating textiles with nanoparticles-based antimicrobial agents that can ‘inactivate’ Coronavirus on contact.

These coatings are expected to be effective up to 60 wash cycles, thereby making the textiles re-usable. The coated textiles can be primarily used to manufacture N95 masks, surgical masks, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and food packaging bags, among others, with inherent properties of inactivating the coronavirus.

“Our solution tries to solve the current pandemic problem at the root level by inactivating coronavirus permanently. As soon as it comes in contact with the coated nanoparticles, its structure is permanently destroyed by the nanoparticles,” explained KLN Sai Prasanth, Chief Executive Officer, Conzumex Industries, which operates the brand Muse Wearables. “For example, people using masks made by our coated textiles will not transmit the virus to others or have less chances of the virus getting transmitted to them.”

He added that the coating process is scalable, which means it can be deployed in any textile industry as a textile finishing process.

Muse Wearables’ current pilot machine can coat textiles of length up to 100 metres within a few minutes, making it a viable commercial solution that can be deployed immediately.

Currently, Muse Wearables is assembling the coating machine and will shortly commence coating various textiles with different nanoparticle solutions. Their coated textiles are expected to be ready for testing by the first week of May 2020. The start-up is also partnering with a mask manufacturing company to launch five-layered Antiviral N95 Masks at an estimated price of Rs. 300 per piece.

The company plans to deploy similar machines in their manufacturing process or supply the textiles themselves. They are also looking for grants to further scale-up. Once the pandemic is over, they will develop other kinds of applications using these fabrics and use them in our future wearable products.

“With our current technology development, we have the opportunity to apply for nine patents in the area of activated textiles. We are now looking to partner with various labs that can test the efficacy of our Coated textiles on Novel Coronavirus… Once we get certified, we will start the mass production of the coated textiles to be used in various applications,” Prasanth said.

Highlights of these nano-particles coated textiles include:

• Anti-microbial properties: It continuously captures and destroys viruses and other microbes upon contact. Other viruses as small as 30 nanometres can also be inactivated permanently.
• It does not leach while washing in water and is environment-friendly.
• At present the particles can be coated on materials like cotton, polyester and cotton – polyester. More fabrics will be tested soon.
• It is non-toxic and therefore can be safely used for making masks and other PPEs