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

Details

• Personal Author:
  Chu L ; Chu MC ; Chu S ; Cui Y ; Kilinc-Balci FS ; Liao L ; Lin YL ; Price A ; Wang H ; Wang Q ; Xiao W ; Yu X ; Zhao M
• Description:
  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. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Communicable Diseases Filtration Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Safety Viral Diseases
• Keywords:
  Aerosols Author Keywords: Face Masks Cloth Filters Cloth Filtration Efficiency COVID-19 Disease Control Disease Prevention Electrical Charge Equipment Testing Fabrics Face Masks Facial Coverings Filter Fabrics Filter Materials Infection Control Infection Prevention Infectious Diseases Natural Products Performance Capability Performance Tests Personal Protective Equipment PPE Propylenes Protective Materials Synthetic Materials Triboelectricity Viral Diseases Viral Infections

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• ISSN:
  1530-6984
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Colorado ; District of Columbia ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 8 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  NPPTL - National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  20
• Issue:
  7
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20060444
• Citation:
  Nano Lett 2020 Jul; 20(7):5544-5552
• Contact Point Address:
  Yi Cui, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, United States
• Email:
  yicui@stanford.edu
• CAS Registry Number:
  1-Propene, homopolymer (CAS RN 9003-07-0)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2020
• NORA Priority Area:
  Healthcare and Social Assistance ; Public Safety
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Nano Letters
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d39f75fc82afe290b064f10c107b6e13d7ddd007be188beec24745ea0d28f87ebb2f3c9358491801517fe4840eaf26b409fa0a8c6dba7760ec288952530f8e47
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/224326/cdc_224326_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 9.63 MB ]