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Household Materials Selection for Homemade Cloth Face Coverings and Their Filtration Efficiency Enhancement with Triboelectric Charging

Journal Article · · Nano Letters
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7]
  1. 4C Air, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (United States)
  2. World Health Organization, Geneva, (Switzerland)
  3. National Personal Protective Technology Lab., Washington, DC (United States)
  4. Stanford Univ. of Medicine, Stanford, CA (United States)
  5. Univ. of Colorado, Aurora, CO (United States)
  6. Stanford Univ., CA (United States)
  7. Stanford Univ., CA (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
The COVID-19 pandemic is currently causing a severe disruption and shortage in the global supply chain of necessary personal protective equipment (e.g., N95 respirators). The U.S. CDC has recommended use of household cloth by the general public to make cloth face coverings as a method of source control. We evaluated the filtration properties of natural and synthetic materials using a modified procedure for N95 respirator approval. Common fabrics of cotton, polyester, nylon, and silk had filtration efficiency of 5–25%, polypropylene spunbond had filtration efficiency 6–10%, and paper-based products had filtration efficiency of 10–20%. An advantage of polypropylene spunbond is that it can be simply triboelectrically charged to enhance the filtration efficiency (from 6 to >10%) without any increase in pressure (stable overnight and in humid environments). Using the filtration quality factor, fabric microstructure, and charging ability, we are able to provide an assessment of suggested fabric materials for homemade facial coverings.
Research Organization:
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-76SF00515
OSTI ID:
1646803
Journal Information:
Nano Letters, Journal Name: Nano Letters Journal Issue: 7 Vol. 20; ISSN 1530-6984
Publisher:
American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (2)

A simple and cheap aerosol penetrometer for filter testing using an electronic cigarette. journal March 2021
A simple and cheap aerosol penetrometer for filter testing using an electronic cigarette. journal October 2021

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36 MATERIALS SCIENCE