Prospect of biobased antiviral face mask to limit the coronavirus outbreak

The rapid spread of COVID-19 has led to nationwide lockdowns in many countries. The COVID-19 pandemic has played serious havoc on economic activities throughout the world. Researchers are immensely curious about how to give the best protection to people before a vaccine becomes available. The coronavirus spreads principally through saliva droplets. Thus, it would be a great opportunity if the virus spread could be controlled at an early stage. The face mask can limit virus spread from both inside and outside the mask. This is the first study that has endeavoured to explore the design and fabrication of an antiviral face mask using licorice root extract, which has antimicrobial properties due to glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) and glycyrrhizin (GL). An electrospinning…