Recently, an investigation into preventive measures for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has garnered considerable attention. Consequently, strategies for the proactive prevention of viral pathogens have also attracted significant interest in the field of wearable devices and electronic textiles research, particularly due to their potential applications in personal protective equipment. In this study, we introduce smart textiles designed with optimized piezoelectric devices that exhibit antifouling performance against microorganisms and actively inactivate viruses. These active-type smart textiles, which incorporate advanced lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics, a stretchable interconnector array, and polymeric fabric, demonstrate effective antifouling capabilities, detaching approximately 90% of Escherichia coli and 75% of SARS-CoV-2. Furthermore, they inactivate viruses, releasing ~26.8 ng of N protein from ruptured SARS-CoV-2, using ultrasonic waves within the wearable platform. Experimental results show that piezoelectric smart textiles significantly reduce the spread of COVID-19 by leveraging the electrical and acoustic properties of PZT ceramics.
This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (No. RS-2024-00347619, No. RS-2024-00407155, 2022M3H4A1A02046445, RS-2023-00209955, and RS-2024-00406240). This research was supported by the Nano & Material Technology Development Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by Ministry of Science and ICT (RS-2024-00452380). This work was supported by Korea Institute of Planning and Evaluation for Technology in Food, Agriculture and Forestry (IPET) through High-Risk Animal infectious Disease Control Technology Development Program, funded by Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA)(RS-2024-00396818). We confirm that we created all the elements used in the figures, including Fig. 1, and do not contain any third-party content.
