Still need to charge. In Israel, created the world’s first protective mask with recharge from a smartphone

Researchers at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering say that electricity heats a layer of carbon fiber and destroys any viruses that have settled in it.

Among the wide range of masks available, the leading model in terms of effectiveness is the N95. Proper use of masks today means replacing them daily, even if they were clean and dry during the day.

These rules, along with the urgent need to provide masks to the medical staff who care for patients with coronavirus, have led to a sharp increase in demand for masks. For example, in the United States, approximately 350 billion masks are needed to protect against an epidemic — 100 times more than the amount actually available today. A shortage of masks was also observed in Israel, especially after the Ministry of Health made masks mandatory.

Professor Yair Ein-Eli, Dean of the Technion’s Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, has developed a reusable mask that can be subjected to controlled heating, destroying viruses stored on the mask and allowing its reuse.

The new technology is based on an inner layer of carbon fibers evenly distributed inside the mask. When a fiber layer is heated using a weak current (2 amperes) from an available source, such as a conventional mobile phone charger, USB connection, or other similar cables for mobile electronic devices, masked viruses die.

Professor Ein-Eli’s research team created a prototype mask and tested it with scientists from the Technion’s Faculty of Biology. The patent for the “rechargeable mask” was presented in the United States on March 31, and the research team is currently negotiating with a number of commercial entities about the start of mass production.