Volume 140, Issue 10 e53584
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Chemical engineering of electrospun nanofibrous-based three-layered nonwoven polymeric protective mask for enhanced performance

Saikat Sinha Ray

Saikat Sinha Ray

Department of Urban and Environmental Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, South Korea

Contribution: Conceptualization (equal), ​Investigation (equal), Methodology (lead), Writing - original draft (lead), Writing - review & editing (lead)

Search for more papers by this author
Ritesh Soni

Ritesh Soni

School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, South Korea

Contribution: Data curation (equal), ​Investigation (equal), Methodology (equal)

Search for more papers by this author
Dao Thi Thanh Huyen

Dao Thi Thanh Huyen

Department of Urban and Environmental Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, South Korea

Contribution: Formal analysis (supporting), Methodology (supporting)

Search for more papers by this author
Srinath Ravi

Srinath Ravi

Department of Urban and Environmental Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, South Korea

Contribution: Formal analysis (supporting), Software (supporting), Visualization (supporting)

Search for more papers by this author
Suwan Myung

Suwan Myung

Research Center for Bio-based Chemistry, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), Ulsan, South Korea

Contribution: Conceptualization (supporting), Data curation (supporting), Supervision (supporting)

Search for more papers by this author
Chang Young Lee

Chang Young Lee

School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, South Korea

Contribution: Conceptualization (supporting), ​Investigation (supporting), Supervision (supporting), Validation (supporting)

Search for more papers by this author
Young-Nam Kwon

Corresponding Author

Young-Nam Kwon

Department of Urban and Environmental Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, South Korea

Correspondence

Young-Nam Kwon, Department of Urban and Environmental Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), South Korea.

Email: [email protected]

Contribution: Funding acquisition (lead), ​Investigation (supporting), Resources (lead), Supervision (lead), Visualization (lead)

Search for more papers by this author
First published: 05 January 2023
Citations: 2

Funding information: Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Grant/Award Number: NRF-2018R1D1A1B07043609; Minitry of Trade, Industry & Energy, Grant/Award Number: 20202020800330

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, face masks, respirators, and personal protective equipment have become common preventive measures. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the lack of efficient and reusable face masks worldwide. Immense efforts have been dedicated to designing antidust and antidroplet masks to ensure safe breathing. In this context, electrospun nanofibrous layers have attracted considerable attention for the fabrication of antidust and antidroplet masks. During long-term usage, water droplet layers can lead to pore blockages; this remains a major concern. In this study, a three-layered sandwich structure comprising a hydrophilic spongy layer, hydrophobic support layer, and antidroplet layer was developed to address this concern. Specifically, the structure comprised polyvinylidene fluoride-silica nanoparticles-perfluorooctyl trichlorosilane/polyethylene/polybenzimidazole (PVDF-Si-NPs-PFTOS/PET/PBI) electrospun nanofibrous layers. The PBI layer was utilized as soft, hydrophilic, skin-friendly layer, as supported by the PET layer for better mechanical stability. In addition, PVDF coated with micro-nano scale Si-NPs as modified with a PFTOS nonwoven electrospun layer was used for the antifouling, antidroplet, and splash resistance capabilities. This novel electrospun nanofibrous nonwoven three-layered sandwich structure (PVDF-Si-PFTOS/PET/PBI) exhibited high performance, with competitive antidroplet abilities. Accordingly, this research can be used to fabricate face masks with antidroplet and splash resistance for personal safety and protective equipment.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.