At the midst of the COVID-19 there has been a shortage of masks especially the medical grade N-95 masks which are both single use and ineffective in protecting its wearer.
So, researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology center has devised a way to make that can make reusable and more effective N-95 masks by making a membrane which is smaller than the Novel Coronavirus.
So what's wrong with current N-95 masks? Well, the size of the COVID-19 virus is 65-125 nanometers while current masks are 300 nanometers so the coronavirus can just pass through the masks.
The researchers first made a porous template made from Silicon (the element use in smartphone chips) lithography and chemical etching.
Then, the template is placed in a polyamide film and made the pores smaller at the size of 5-55 nanometers thinner than the coronavirus (at the size of 65-125 nanometers) through a process called Reactive Ion Etching or ROI.
Moreover, the membrane is Hydrophobic (meaning water loving), showing that the masks is autofouling and self-cleaning which is done by the rolling and sliding of droplets.
How about breathing? Though the pores in the mask is very small, the researchers theoretically say that the airflow is 85 L/min so it is perfectly breathable.
So what do you think of this new N-95 mask will successful in blocking the coronavirus in time for current use or will it not be available for widespread medical use?
Original article from Science Daily:A replaceable, more efficient filter for N95 masks
Link:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/05/200521124646.htm
Original research paper:
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsnano.0c03976
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