Unlike most existing COVID-19 drugs, this material can inhibit infection from all major variants including Alpha, Beta, Delta and Omicron with high biosafety.
This could be a promising therapy for fighting future pandemics, one researcher said.
The study was published in August in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
Researchers from the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, the National nano Center for Science and Technology, the Institute of High-energy Physics and the Conming animal Institute - all of which are part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences - contributed to the project.
nano materials are extremely small - one nanometre is half a billion meter. The structure of the material - called CIPS because it is made of copper, indium, phosphorus and sulfur - is shaped like nano plates about 200 nanometers in size, equivalent to two viral particles.
Normally, the SARS-CoV-2 virus enters human cells with the help of surfactant thorn protein. The thorny protein binds to ACE2 protein on the surface of human cells like a key to unlock, allowing the virus to penetrate the host cell.
However, CIPS has the ability to selectively bind to the virus's thorn protein, leading to blocked infection.
The National Science and Technology Nano Center said on its website: CIPS acts as a trap for viruses. When CIPS has caught the virus, it will form a stable complex. The complex is then recognized and eliminated by the host's macrophages, large white blood cells in the human immune system that have the function of destroying foreign substances.
Experiments show that CIPS effectively suppresses cell, organic and rat infections, while effectively reducing rat pneumonia caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection.
The effectiveness of the vaccine and resistance are currently being used to fight COVID-19 decreasing for variants such as Omicron. While most antibodies are designed to bind to a single location on the virus, breakthroughs in Omicron variants can change the surface structure. CIPS can link to multiple locations at the same time.
More than 1,000 COVID-19 variants have been detected so far. Although the Chinese study team could not test CIPS material on all strains, they found that CIPS was highly effective for all variants of interest - Alpha, Beta, Delta and Omicron.
Good bio-compatibility is a prerequisite for the safe application of nano materials. Researchers have looked at the absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of CIPS in mice and found that this material has a high ability to decompose by biodegradation.
Research shows that mice inhale CIPS through the nasal passages and after 7 days, CIPS is almost completely removed from the mice's lungs.
According to researchers, the bio-degradable and biosafety of nano CIPS material shows good potential and application value, but it still needs to be tested through a series of clinical trials before it can be ready for use on humans.
The safety assessment of COVID-19 drugs includes testing for toxicity to the body and immune system, testing for toxicity to cause birth defects, and testing for allergies. This process is prolonged and costly, often done by pharmaceutical companies.
The good news is that nano materials can be relatively cheap, enough for mass production and widespread application.
Researchers say nano materials can be used as a disinfectant or surface coating to reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
