António Moreira Gonçalves
To create a new generation of protective equipment, which acts not only as a physical barrier to the virus transmission, but also has an anti-bacterial and anti-viral action, is the concept of the Active Protection project, by NidProtech, the R&D Center of the Latino Group. The Portuguese company, which specializes in workwear and protective clothing, also wants to create a sustainable alternative to disposable items, and for that it’s counting with the support of the Compete 2020 program.
Scrubs, head covers and boot covers are some of the items that are included in the project led by Clementina Freitas, which also counts with the participation of University of Minho, Sciencentris, TecMinho and Pixartidea, in a consortium of companies and technology centres with experience in technical and defense clothing.
“The project consists in developing, within the COVID-19 scope, a new generation of reusable PPE with anti-bacteriological and anti-viral functions for professional usage”, explains Manuel Cruz (photo), the NidProtech Coordinator, in a statement to the Compete 2020 platform.
The goal is to overcome the concept of a passive physical barrier and evolve to a new generation of equipment with an active behaviour in the fight against the disease. For this, the textile substrates will be covered with polymeric coatings of metal oxide nanoparticles. With this technology, the project hopes to create active barriers that protect from chemical and biological threats, such as viruses and bacteria.
In addition, Active Protection also wants to make the articles reusable, in order to avoid waste and reduce environmental impact.