Cotton-Comfortable Face Masks with Protective Finishes and Electret Filter Media for Safety from Microbial Threats

Abstract

Cotton-comfortable multi-ply face mask fabrics have been developed at The University of Tennessee's Textiles and Nonwovens Development Center (TANDEC) which have a repellent finished outer spunbond (SB) polypropylene (PP) layer, a middle layer of electrostatically charged (EC) melt blown (MB) PP, and a face side of a cotton-rich nonwoven. The EC MB PP layer effectively filters out aerosols and particulate containing bacteria and viruses, thereby protecting both the wearer and other personnel in the environment. In addition, a cotton-rich nonwoven layer on the body side provides the aesthetics and comfort of cotton, and also better retains antibacterial finish for neutralizing any microbes that penetrate the EC filter media. Filtration efficiency (FE) against 0.1 μm NaCl particles and the pressure drop were determined at TANDEC. FE to water aerosol containing Staphyloccus aureus bacteria per the In Vitro Bacterial Filtration Efficiency (BFE) test and to virus (φX174) per the In Vitro Viral Filtration Efficiency (VFE) were determined at Nelson Laboratories. The percent reduction of bacteria after the BFE test was also ascertained by Nelson Laboratories by a method adapted from AATCC 100.