At the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, we have developments in various institutes that are related to the production of new materials and can help at this time of crisis to improve the quality of Bulgarian mask production. This was announced by the President of BAS Prof. Julian Revalski, Full Member of the Academy, at a meeting of the Council of Ministers today.
One of them is of the Institute of Organic Chemistry with Center for Phytochemistry (IOCCP), and the other one is of the Institute of Polymers, the President of BAS added.
We have developed activated charcoal which is a waste product of apricot stones, said Prof. Pavlina Dolashka (IOCCP). She explained that activated charcoal has been tested for the treatment of severe diabetic wounds and has proved to be highly adsorbent of bacteria, fungal infections and viruses. We can supply activated charcoal and, together with mask companies, develop it so that there are enough quantities in the pharmacy network, said Prof. Dolashka. The development is in the framework of the Clean Technologies Competence Center and BioActiveMed National Science Program.
The other innovation is of the Institute of Polymers of BAS where nanoscale filters are being developed, announced Prof. Revalski at a briefing in the Council of Ministers. At BAS, a group of specialists is being formed which will be available in case of need of expert assistance to the national crisis staff and the government. These are scientists-virologists from the Institute of Microbiology of BAS as well as scientists from other institutes of the Academy. Developing the molecule against coronavirus requires high processing power, indicated Prof. Revalski, and said that BAS had a supercomputer which could help.
