Title:Hydrogen-producing Photocatalyst at Sunscreen for Athletes in Preventing
and Healing Muscle-nerve-skin Injuries
Volume: 23
Issue: 4
Author(s): Pathik Sahoo*
Affiliation:
- Functional Chromophore Group, National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Tsukuba, 305-0044, Ibaraki, Japan
- Foundation of Physics Research Center (FoPRC), 87053, Celico, CS, Italy
Keywords:
Collagen, Myofibrils, Neurodegenerative disease, Photocatalyst, Supramolecular gel, therapeutic agent, Topical gel, Sunscreen.
Abstract: Physical injuries in sports are unavoidable, but they can be mitigated and even treated by
using molecular hydrogen, which can be administered via a specially formulated sunscreen. The
photocatalysts are a special class of semiconductors that can absorb a specific spectrum of light to
promote its electron from the valance band (VB) to the conduction band (CB). This creates positively
charged holes at VB and negatively charged electrons at CB in generating photochemical reaction
centres. Once a photocatalyst that absorbs a harmful UV band from sunlight and can split water
is doped inside a hydrogel will produce hydrogen in the presence of sunlight. If we employ such
photocatalyst-doped hydrogel over naked skin, the hydrogel will act as a continuous source of water,
which will absorb water from sweet, store it inside the hydrogel matrix and deliver it to the photocatalyst
for splitting it further into the hydrogen. As a result, such photocatalyst-doped hydrogel
can be used as a sunscreen to protect against sunlight and can use that spectrum of light for producing
hydrogen from sweat continuously. Hydrogen can be absorbed through the skin and diffused in
the body to heal wound-prone or injured muscles, and nerves. Because hydrogen may travel
throughout the body, the catalyst-doped hydrogel can be used as a topical gel to treat various ailments
such as muscle-nerve skin injuries, cancer, Parkinson's disease, and others. Besides common
people, even athletes can use it as sunscreen during sports, which is not feasible for other hydrogen
administrating systems.