The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that developing effective therapeutics against viruses might be outpaced by emerging variants, 1–5 waning immunity, 6–9 vaccine skepticism/hesitancy, 10–12 lack of resources, 13–16 and the time needed to develop virus-specific therapeutics, 17,18 emphasizing the importance of non-pharmaceutical interventions as the first line of defense against virus outbreaks and pandemics. 19–23 However, fighting the spread of airborne viruses has proven extremely challenging, 23–28 much more if this needs to be achieved on a global scale and in an environmentally-friendly manner. 29,30 Here, we introduce an aerosol filter made of granular material based on whey protein nanofibrils and iron oxyhydroxides nanoparticles. The material is environmentally-friendly, biodegradable, and composed mainly of a dairy industry byproduct. 31 It features remarkable filtration efficiencies between 95.91% and 99.99% for both enveloped and non-enveloped viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the influenza A virus strain H1N1, enterovirus 71, bacteriophage Φ6, and bacteriophage MS2. The developed material is safe to handle and recycle, with a simple baking step sufficient to inactivate trapped viruses. The high filtration efficiency, virtually-zero environmental impact, and low cost of the material illuminate a viable role in fighting current and future pandemics on a global scale.

Trapping virus-loaded aerosols using granular protein nanofibrils and iron oxyhydroxides nanoparticles