Fluorinated Graphene-Coated N95 Respirators for Enhanced Protection Against Viral Accumulation and Transmission

Details

• Journal Article:
  Advanced Engineering Materials
• Personal Author:
  He, Fengjie ; Zhang, Jiongyu ; Zhai, Shengjie ; Liu, Changchun ; Zhao, Hui
• Description:
  Highly contagious respiratory infection diseases such as COVID-19 can be transmitted by inhaling virus laden liquid droplets and short-range aerosols, released by an infected person. Particularly, in hospitals, spraying of the respiratory droplets containing pathogens from the conjunctiva or mucus of a susceptible person plays a key role in transferring the infectious diseases. N95 filtering respirators are a critical personal protective equipment. However, due to concerns over the virus accumulation on the N95 respirators, there is an urgent need to make the N95 respirators less contaminated. To address this critical issue, a one-step spray coating approach is developed to coat the fluorinated graphene (FG) nanosheet onto the N95 respirators. The synergistic effect of the FG nanosheet with a low surface energy and the increased surface roughness by FG on the respirator's surface makes it superhydrophobic. For respiratory droplets like saliva and mucus, the FG-coated respirators also show excellent superhydrophobicity. Furthermore, the ability against virus accumulation on the FG-coated respirators is tested by using the mucus droplets laden with SARS-CoV-2. The results show that FG-coated respirators largely increase the virus repel efficiency even under multiple contacts and effectively reduce the virus accumulation.
• Subjects:
  Graphite Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirators; Infectious Diseases; Infection Prevention; Decontamination; Disease Transmission; Aerosols; Nanomaterials; Mucous Membranes; Coatings; Graphene;
• Source:
  Adv Eng Mater 2025 Jul; 27(13):2402919
• ISSN:
  1438-1656
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Nevada ; Connecticut ; Boston Region [OSHA] ; San Francisco Region [OSHA]
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  9 pdf pages
• Volume:
  27
• Issue:
  13
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20071340
• Contact Point Address:
  Hui Zhao, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Nevada Las Vegas, 4505 S Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, 89154 USA
• Email:
  hui.zhao@unlv.edu
• CAS Registry Number:
  Graphite (CAS RN 7782-42-5)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2025
• Performing Organization:
  University of Nevada, Las Vegas
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20210930
• End Date:
  20230929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a7449224a984acfba5783f9d9f673f4ed2d654fbc2bc8447436cabb52eca5b8190fe16b9e84ac919336b9e4ef69c0af397671c46d8b80d909019b81369612974
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/258815/cdc_258815_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 4.22 MB ]