Mechanical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, King Saud University, PO Box 800, Riyadh, 11421, Saudi Arabia.
K.A.CARE Energy Research and Innovation Center at Riyadh, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Sci Rep. 2021 Dec 1;11(1):23240. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-02744-8.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, people were encouraged and sometimes required to wear disposable facemasks, which then are discarded creating an environmental problem. In this study, we aim at investigating novel ideas to recycle wasted facemasks in order to lower the environmental impact. An experimental study has been carried out to investigate the possibility of using discarded masks for thermal insulation and sound absorption. The wasted masks are simulated by new masks, which stripped off the nose clips, elastic ear loops and are heated to 120 °C for one hour to kill any biological contaminants. The masks are also melted to investigate their thermal insulation and sound absorption properties. Results show that the thermal conductivity coefficients of the loose and melted masks are 0.03555 and 0.08683 W/m K, respectively, at room temperature of about 25 °C. Results show also that the sound absorption coefficient for loose masks is above 0.6 for the frequency range 600-5000 Hz. The loose facemasks are found to be thermally stable up to 295 °C, elastic ear loops at 304.7 °C, and the composite (melted) facemasks at 330.0 °C using the thermo-gravimetric analysis. Characterization of the facemask's three-layer fibers and the composite (melted) samples is obtained using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The three-point bending test is obtained for the composite specimens showing good values of flexural stress, flexural strain, and flexural elastic modulus. These results are promising about using such discarded masks as new thermal insulation and sound-absorbing materials for buildings replacing the synthetic or petrochemical insulation materials.
由于 COVID-19 大流行，人们被鼓励（有时甚至被要求）佩戴一次性口罩，而这些口罩用完后会被丢弃，造成环境问题。在这项研究中，我们旨在寻找回收废弃口罩的新方法，以降低其对环境的影响。已经进行了一项实验研究，以调查使用废弃口罩进行隔热和吸声的可能性。使用新口罩模拟浪费的口罩，这些口罩去掉了鼻夹、弹性耳带，并加热至 120°C 一小时以杀死任何生物污染物。还对口罩进行了熔化处理，以研究其隔热和吸声性能。结果表明，在室温约 25°C 下，松散和熔化口罩的导热系数分别为 0.03555 和 0.08683 W/m·K。结果还表明，松散口罩在 600-5000 Hz 频率范围内的吸声系数大于 0.6。通过热重分析发现，松散口罩在 295°C 时具有热稳定性，弹性耳带在 304.7°C 时具有热稳定性，复合（熔化）口罩在 330.0°C 时具有热稳定性。使用扫描电子显微镜（SEM）对口罩的三层纤维和复合（熔化）样品进行了表征。对复合试件进行了三点弯曲试验，得到了良好的弯曲应力、弯曲应变和弯曲弹性模量值。这些结果表明，使用这些废弃口罩作为建筑的新型隔热和吸声材料是有前景的，可以替代合成或石油化工绝缘材料。
