06-Sep-2021 | Market Research Store
The term ‘’droplet’’ as used in the context, consists mostly of water along with various inclusions, depending on the source of droplets. The droplets released by humans through sneeze and cough include various cells, mucus containing physiological electrolytes, saliva,and various infectious agents. The World Health Organization claims these aerosol droplets as a wholesome poses threat tohumans by transmitting COVID-19. To curb the spread of this life-threatening disease, one should cover the facial area with a mask while talking, sneezing, singing, or even shouting. These masks are commercially available in different variants such as cotton, surgical, etc.
A few engineers from the University of California and The George Washington University compared the efficiency of the commercially available masks and found that the surgical mask was able to trap the aerosols by 98%. However, the cotton mask and neck gaiter were less effective in curbing the spread of the droplets and were 45–73% efficient. Hence, this analytical study urged engineers to develop a new type of mask with anelectrospun nanofiber membrane, which can resist most of the coronavirus-entrapped aerosols and can minimize the risk of contamination by such deadly infection.
The nanofiber used to form a novel membrane for the maskhas a diameter of 300nm, which is around 150 times thinner than normal human hair. Danmeng Shuai, who is an associate professor at the George Washington University, employed electrospinning technique to spin the polyvinylidene fluoride thread. The spinning led to the formation of voids within the membranecreated through the processed fiber.With the incorporation of suchan innovative membrane between the layers of cloth, the mask can resistup to 99.9% of aerosolsentering the body and provides comfortable breathing. As this technique is economical, it can be used to manufacture nanofiber membranesona large scale and making themaccessible throughout the globe.The research paperillustrating the formation of highlyefficient face masks was published in a renowned journalEnvironmental Science & Technology.