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    • Fulltext

       

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      Permanent link:
      https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/boms/046/0014

    • Keywords

       

      N95; facemasks; electret fibres; AFM; electrostatic forces.

    • Abstract

       

      Facemasks have been a critical line of defense in the Covid-19 pandemic and have been used for decades to reduce the inhalation of sub-micron aerosols, including bacteria, viruses and nano-materials. These facemasks leverage electrostatic charge properties of non-woven electret fibre mats to remove sub-micron aerosols. However, the topographical and electrostatic properties of these mats have not been well characterized at the nano-scale. In this study, weuse atomic force microscopy (AFM) to examine the surface topography of the electret fibres within a commercial respirator fibre mat, use electrostatic force microscopy to map the electrostatic interactions emanating from these fibres,and use synchrotron X-ray scattering to probe polymer morphology. We find that within these mats the fibres exhibit significant heterogeneity in surface topography, electrostatic interactions and polypropylene phase composition. The surface topographies ranged from nano-smooth surfaces to ordered spherulitic structures. The electrostatic interactions varied across fibre length and circumference, and are only weakly correlated with surface topographical features. Finally, we use AFM to characterize fibres after filtering a NaCl aerosol and find that the deposited particles are heterogeneous in size and distributed over the fibre surfaces.

    • Author Affiliations

       

      C MATHEW MATE1 CHRISTOPHER J TAKACS2 ALEXANDER V DUDCHENKO1

      1. Applied Energy Division, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park 94025, USA
      2. SSRL Materials Science Division, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park 94025, USA

    • Dates

       
      Published
      17 January 2023
      Manuscript received
      13 May 2022
      Accepted
      5 September 2022
      Final version published online
      17 January 2023

  • Bulletin of Materials Science | News

    • Dr Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar for Science and Technology

      Posted on October 12, 2020

      Prof. Subi Jacob George — Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bengaluru
      Chemical Sciences 2020

      Prof. Surajit Dhara — School of Physics, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad
      Physical Sciences 2020

    • Editorial Note on Continuous Article Publication

      Posted on July 25, 2019

      Click here for Editorial Note on CAP Mode

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