Khezrian Mobina, Jafari Adel, Mohraz Majid Habibi
Student Research Committee, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
Occupational Health and Safety Research Center, Institute of Health Sciences and Technologies, Avicenna Health Research Institute, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
Heliyon. 2024 Dec 30;11(2):e41580. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e41580. eCollection 2025 Jan 30.
With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a significant increase in the demand for facemasks as an effective means of protection. As a result, a variety of materials, including woven and nonwoven fabrics, have been utilized as filtration mediums in respiratory protection equipment (RPEs). However, many of these RPEs, despite their widespread use, do not provide adequate protection against aerosols and bioaerosols. Recent studies have demonstrated that nanofiber coatings possess properties that can enhance the protective capabilities of RPEs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of applying nanofiber coatings on the filtration properties of common substrates used in RPEs. Specifically, polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and PAN modified with CuBTC nanofibers (PAN/CuBTC) were coated onto seven common types of substrates used in RPEs: two types of melt-blown fabric with grammages of 15 and 25 g/m, two types of spunbond fabric with grammages of 25 and 30 g/m, SSMMS fabric with a grammage of 25 g/m, activated carbon fabric, and Tetron fabric. The initial filtration efficiency, pressure drop, and quality factor of the prepared media were then measured. The results clearly indicated that the application of PAN and PAN/CuBTC nanofiber coatings significantly enhances the filtration efficiency of all examined substrate layers, achieving efficiencies exceeding 90 % and 95 % at the most penetrating particle size (MPPS, 300 nm), respectively. The assessment of the quality factor revealed that the highest quality factor values before and after coating with PAN and PAN/CuBTC nanofibers corresponded to the SSMMS substrates, with values of 0.023, 0.072, and 0.094 Pa⁻, while the lowest quality factor values were associated with Tetron, which had values of 0.002, 0.016, and 0.021 Pa⁻, respectively.The comparison of various substrates revealed that the SSMMS fabric exhibited the highest quality factor after coverage with nanofibers, while the Tetron fabric demonstrated the lowest quality factor. Based on the quality criteria, the SSMMS fabric was the best substrate for nanofiber coatings, followed by melt-blown, spun bond, and activated carbon fabrics, whereas the Tetron fabric was not recommended for this application due to a high respiratory pressure drop.
随着新冠疫情的出现，作为一种有效防护手段的口罩需求大幅增加。因此，包括机织和非织造织物在内的多种材料已被用作呼吸防护设备（RPE）的过滤介质。然而，许多此类RPE尽管广泛使用，但对气溶胶和生物气溶胶的防护并不充分。最近的研究表明，纳米纤维涂层具有可增强RPE防护能力的特性。本研究的目的是调查应用纳米纤维涂层对RPE中常用基材过滤性能的影响。具体而言，将聚丙烯腈（PAN）和用CuBTC纳米纤维改性的PAN（PAN/CuBTC）涂覆到RPE中使用的七种常见类型的基材上：两种克重分别为15和25 g/m²的熔喷织物、两种克重分别为25和30 g/m²的纺粘织物、克重为25 g/m²的SSMMS织物、活性炭织物和特卫强织物。然后测量制备介质的初始过滤效率﹑压降和品质因数。结果清楚地表明，PAN和PAN/CuBTC纳米纤维涂层的应用显著提高了所有受试基材层的过滤效率，在最易穿透粒径（MPPS，300 nm）下分别达到超过90%和95%的效率。品质因数评估显示，用PAN和PAN/CuBTC纳米纤维涂层前后，最高品质因数值对应于SSMMS基材，分别为0.023、0.072和0.094 Pa⁻¹，而最低品质因数值与特卫强织物相关，分别为0.002、0.016和0.021 Pa⁻¹。各种基材的比较表明，纳米纤维覆盖后，SSMMS织物表现出最高的品质因数，而特卫强织物的品质因数最低。基于质量标准，SSMMS织物是纳米纤维涂层的最佳基材，其次是熔喷、纺粘和活性炭织物，而由于呼吸压降高，不建议将特卫强织物用于此应用。
