# Anti-viral Active Air-Purifying Respirator with Photocatalytic Microreactor to Prevent Airborne Diseases

> **NIH ALLCDC R43** · HAWAI'I INNOVATION LABORATORY, INC. · 2022 · $243,500

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The potential for an epidemic or pandemic caused by a high-impact respiratory pathogen is increasing. Studies
prior to the COVID-19 outbreak show that the frequency of outbreaks of newly emerging diseases rose, which
has exacerbated since the pandemic started. Respiratory protective masks are used whenever airborne
contaminants such as dust, fumes, smoke, and mists are present in the air. The contaminants also include
airborne bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Currently, most commercially available untethered protective masks are
designed for surgical or industrial safety and may provide adequate protection from airborne contaminants but
do so through particle filtering. Therefore, most masks do not kill the pathogens to protect the wearers. Hence,
while using an active respirator, the filtered pathogens, which are alive and infectious, may enter the respiratory
tract overtime or spread by touch. The current active respirators are bulky, heavy, and designed for 2-4 hours of
use. In brief, the protective masks are not designed for prolonged daily use by untrained users. Until the outbreak
of COVID-19, the necessity of an anti-pathogenic wearable respirator was not as significant as it is now. This
COVID-19 has exposed our lack of preparedness in providing a safe working environment for the frontline
workers during the respiratory pandemic. Most current protective respirators address only part of the desired
solution. A working solution needs to combine all the critical requirements, such as high filtration (≥ 99%) for
nanometer-scale particles, pathogens-neutralization, moisture dissipation, eco-friendliness, and comfortable
prolonged use. The proposed R&D effort addresses a wearable anti-pathogenic respirator's critical need for
prolonged use by trained or untrained users. We propose designing and developing an active, untethered, anti-
pathogen full-face breathing mask with an integrated photocatalytic microreactor that can neutralize all
microorganisms, including viruses SARS-CoV-2. Although the proposed system contains all the components of
a portable respirator, the components are miniaturized and integrated into a full-face mask. Hence, the system
is referred to as a full-face mask in this proposal. The proposed full-face mask intakes surrounding air filters out
particles as small as 100 nm (size of a single SARS-CoV-2 viral particle), passes the air through an integrated
photocatalytic microreactor killing all the microorganisms, and volatile organic chemicals (VOCs), and supply
clean air to the user. The mask also works as a defense against the threat of contamination of ventilation systems
by bioterrorism. The mask is completely untethered and designed to run for 8-10 hours with a single charge. The
active-powered mask can save the wearer from airborne pathogens while maintaining visibility and comfort.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10385625
- **Project number:** 1R43OH012358-01
- **Recipient organization:** HAWAI'I INNOVATION LABORATORY, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Arif Rahman
- **Activity code:** R43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** ALLCDC
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $243,500
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-01 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10385625

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10385625, Anti-viral Active Air-Purifying Respirator with Photocatalytic Microreactor to Prevent Airborne Diseases (1R43OH012358-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10385625. Licensed CC0.

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