Aerosol Filtration Efficiency of Common Fabrics Used in Respiratory Cloth Masks
By Abhiteja Konda, A. Prakash, Gregory A Moss, M. Schmoldt, G. Grant, Supratik Guha. ACS Nano, 2020
868 citations recorded by the source corpus.
The emergence of a pandemic affecting the respiratory system can result in a significant demand for face masks. This includes the use of cloth masks by large sections of the public, as can be seen during the current global spread of COVID-19. However, there is limited knowledge available on the performance of various commonly available fabrics used in cloth masks. Importantly, there is a need to evaluate filtration efficiencies as a function of aerosol particulate sizes in the 10 nm to 10 μm range, which is particularly relevant for respiratory virus transmission. We have carried out these studies for several common fabrics including cotton, silk, chiffon, flannel, various synthetics, and their combinations. Although the filtration efficiencies for various fabrics when a single layer was used ranged from 5 to 80% and 5 to 95% for particle sizes of <300 nm and >300 nm, respectively, the efficiencies improved when multiple layers were used and when using a specific combination of different fabrics. Filtration efficiencies of the hybrids (such as cotton–silk, cotton–chiffon, cotton–flannel) was >80% (for particles <300 nm) and >90% (for particles >300 nm). We speculate that the enhanced performance of the hybrids is likely due to the combined effect of mechanical and electrostatic-based filtration. Cotton, the most widely used material for cloth masks performs better at higher weave densities (i.e., thread count) and can make a significant difference in filtration efficiencies. Our studies also imply that gaps (as caused by an improper fit of the mask) can result in over a 60% decrease in the filtration efficiency, implying the need for future cloth mask design studies to take into account issues of “fit” and leakage, while allowing the exhaled air to vent efficiently. Overall, we find that combinations of various commonly available fabrics used in cloth masks can potentially provide significant protection against the transmission of aerosol particles.
Subfields: Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Ocean Engineering, Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/1370c2c005c595f48f735041451357ab728285b0
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Citations in the corpus
- COVID-19 and Public Transportation: Current Assessment, Prospects, and Research Needs (2020, background): “Education on the proper use of face masks is as relevant as enforcing universal use because improperly fitting masks can reduce aerosol filtration efficiency by 60% (Konda et al. 2020).”
- Aerosol filtration efficiency of household materials for homemade face masks: Influence of material properties, particle size, particle electrical charge, face velocity, and leaks (2020, background): “Also results by Konda et al. (2020), who found better filtration efficiencies for combinations of cotton with silk, chiffon, and flannel than for a N95 mask over a large particle size range are hard to understand.”
- Face Masks in the New COVID-19 Normal: Materials, Testing, and Perspectives (2020, methodology): “recently developed a new model to fabricate homemade cloth masks that can achieve high filtration efficiency against aerosol particles ranging from 10nm to 10μm in size [95].”