“Shrimp-shell” masks can block the coronavirus, say researchers

While the Brazilian government’s Covid-19 vaccine procurement process advances at a snail’s pace, scientists are frantically searching for ways to reduce the number of infections. At the University of Brasília (UnB), a group of post-graduate researchers in mechatronic systems developed new face masks seemingly capable of blocking the coronavirus and rendering it inactive.

The technology works thanks to the use of nanofilms of chitosan, derived from the shells of shrimp and other crustaceans, found in their droves off Brazil’s coastline and farmed in the country’s vast interior.

The microscopic films of chitosan are placed in one of the mask’s internal layers, providing an antimicrobial effect which can filter the coronavirus, according to electronic engineer Angélica Kathariny de Oliveira Alves, one of the researchers involved in the project. Common...