New generation washable PES membrane face mask for virus filtration

• Published in: Nanocomposites Vol. 8; no. 1; pp. 13 - 23
• Main Authors: Talukder, Md Eman, Alam, Fariya, Pervez, Md. Nahid, Jiangming, Wang, Hassan, Fahim, Stylios, George K., Naddeo, Vincenzo, Song, Hongchen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Taylor & Francis 31.12.2022; Taylor & Francis Ltd; Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: Aerosols; air filtration; Bacteria; Civil engineering; Corona-virus; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Decontamination; Diameters; Disease transmission; Efficiency; Filtration; fresh breathe; high efficiency; Masks; Medical research; Membrane filtration; Membranes; microfiltration; Nanofiltration; Pandemics; PES membrane; Polyethylene terephthalate; Pore size; Room temperature; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Textiles; Ultrafiltration; Viral diseases; Viruses
• ISSN: 2055-0324; 2055-0332
• DOI: 10.1080/20550324.2021.2008209

Membrane materials might be used for face protection because they can decontaminate the inhaled air from particle pollution and viruses like the SARS-Cov0-2 which damages our respiration system. In this study, plyethersulfone membranes (PES) were synthesized with green solvent at room temperature and its filtration effectiveness was investigated against nano-bacteria (size 0.05 to 0.2 µm) by measuring their Bacterial Filtration Efficiency (BFE) and micro aerosol size (0.3 µm), and Particulate Filtration Efficiency (PFE). The average SARS-CoV-2 diameters are between 50 nm to 160 nm. A series of experiments were performed to accomplish between 0.03 to 0.21 µm PES sponge like diameters so that can be used for SARS-CoV-2 filtration. Results showed that nanofiltration/ultrafiltration could filter 99.9% of bacteria and aerosol from contaminated air the size of the Covid-19 molecule.