Abstract
Respiratory protection is key in infection prevention of airborne diseases, as highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic for instance. Conventional technologies have several drawbacks (i.e., cross-infection risk, filtration efficiency improvements limited by difficulty in breathing, and no safe reusability), which have yet to be addressed in a single device. Here, we report the development of a filter overcoming the major technical challenges of respiratory protective devices. Large-pore membranes, offering high breathability but low bacteria capture, were functionalized to have a uniform salt layer on the fibers. The salt-functionalized membranes achieved high filtration efficiency as opposed to the bare membrane, with differences of up to 48%, while maintaining high breathability (> 60% increase compared to commercial surgical masks even for the thickest salt filters tested). The salt-functionalized filters quickly killed Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria aerosols in vitro, with CFU reductions observed as early as within 5 min, and in vivo by causing structural damage due to salt recrystallization. The salt coatings retained the pathogen inactivation capability at harsh environmental conditions (37 °C and a relative humidity of 70%, 80% and 90%). Combination of these properties in one filter will lead to the production of an effective device, comprehensibly mitigating infection transmission globally.
Highlights
Respiratory protection is key in infection prevention of airborne diseases, as highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic for instance
As the World Health Organization (WHO) and scientific community highlight the urgency in stopping infectious diseases and preparing for the disease outbreaks[3], and new pandemic strains such as COVID-19 emerge, development of effective, readily available infection control measures is recognized as a primary challenge in health care
We report a diverse respiratory protection system that is manufactured without extensive engineering efforts, and achieves quick universal pathogen inactivation, high filtration efficiency, high breathability, and safe recyclability, all in one platform
Summary
Respiratory protection is key in infection prevention of airborne diseases, as highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic for instance. We report the development of a filter overcoming the major technical challenges of respiratory protective devices. The salt coatings retained the pathogen inactivation capability at harsh environmental conditions (37 °C and a relative humidity of 70%, 80% and 90%) Combination of these properties in one filter will lead to the production of an effective device, comprehensibly mitigating infection transmission globally. Surgical masks have seen a continued use for this purpose in the general public during more recent outbreaks, in spite of the improper a pplication[12,13,14,15] This is due to their high availability, affordability and comfort. Respirators and masks play a critical role in the protection against bioaerosols, they are limited by four major technical issues of the filters: (i) cross-infection, (ii) filtration efficiency, (iii) breathability, and (iv) r ecyclability[16].
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