Polymers with antiviral properties: A brief review.

2021

Viruses that are pathogenic to humans and livestock pose a serious epidemiological threat and challenge the world's population. The SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic has made the world aware of the scale of the threat. The surfaces of various materials can be a source of viruses that remain temporarily contagious in the environment. Few polymers have antiviral effects that reduce infectivity or the presence of a virus in the human environment. Some of the effects are due to certain physical properties, e.g., high hydrophobicity. Other materials owe their antiviral activity to a modified physicochemical structure favoring the action on specific virus receptors or on their biochemistry. Current re…