A review of the role of graphene-based nanomaterials in tackling challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic

In 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic due to the emergence of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) which was resulted by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Significant efforts have been devoted by many countries to develop more advanced medicines and vaccines. However, along with these developments, it is also extremely essential to design effective systems by incorporating smart materials to battle the COVID-19. Therefore, several approaches have been implemented to combat against COVID-19. Recently, due to its superior physicochemical properties along with other fascinating properties, graphene-based materials have been explored for the current COVID-19 and future pandemics. Therefore, in this review article, we discuss the recent progress and the most promising strategies related to graphene and related materials and its applications for detection, decontamination, diagnosis, and protection against COVID-19. In addition, the key challenges and future directives are discussed in detail for fundamental design and development of technologies based on graphene and its related materials and lastly, our personal opinions on the appropriate approaches to improve these technologies respectively.