School of Light Industry and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510641, China.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States.
Nano Lett. 2024 Apr 17;24(15):4415-4422. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c00079. Epub 2024 Apr 5.
The increasing demand for personal protective equipment such as single-use masks has led to large amounts of nondegradable plastic waste, aggravating economic and environmental burdens. This study reports a simple and scalable approach for upcycling waste masks via a chemical vapor deposition technique, realizing a trichome-like biomimetic (TLB) N95 respirator with superhydrophobicity (water contact angle ≥150°), N95-level protection, and reusability. The TLB N95 respirator comprising templated silicone nanofilaments with an average diameter of ∼150 nm offers N95-level protection and breathability comparable to those of commercial N95 respirators. The TLB N95 respirator can still maintain its N95-level protection against particulate matter and viruses after 10 disinfection treatment cycles (i.e., ultraviolet irradiation, microwave irradiation, dry heating, and autoclaving), demonstrating durable reusability. The proposed strategy provides new insight into upcycle waste masks, breaking the existing design and preparation concept of reusable masks.
随着一次性口罩等个人防护设备需求的增加，大量不可降解塑料废物造成了经济和环境负担。本研究报告了一种通过化学气相沉积技术对废弃口罩进行升级利用的简单且可扩展的方法，实现了具有超疏水性（水接触角≥150°）、N95 级防护和可重复使用的类毛状仿生（TLB）N95 呼吸器。由平均直径约为 150nm 的模板化硅纳米纤维组成的 TLB N95 呼吸器提供 N95 级防护和透气性，与商业 N95 呼吸器相当。TLB N95 呼吸器在经过 10 次消毒处理循环（即紫外线照射、微波照射、干热和高压灭菌）后仍能保持对颗粒物和病毒的 N95 级防护，具有耐用的可重复使用性。该策略为废物口罩的再利用提供了新的思路，打破了现有可重复使用口罩的设计和制备概念。
