Abstract
The disposal of single-use personal protective equipment has brought a notable environmental impact in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. During these last two years, part of the global research efforts has been focused on preventing contagion using nanotechnology. This work explores the production of filter materials with electrohydrodynamic techniques using recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET). PET was chosen because it is one of the materials most commonly present in everyday waste (such as in food packaging, bags, or bottles), being the most frequently used thermoplastic polymer in the world. The influence of the electrospinning parameters on the filtering capacity of the resulting fabric was analyzed against both aerosolized submicron particles and microparticulated matter. Finally, we present a new scalable and straightforward method for manufacturing surgical masks by electrospinning and we validate their performance by simulating the standard conditions to which they are subjected to during use. The masks were successfully reprocessed to ensure that the proposed method is able to reduce the environmental impact of disposable face masks.
Highlights
Academic Editors: John Vakros, Evroula Hapeshi, Catia Cannilla and Instituto de Nanociencia y Materiales de Aragon (INMA), CSIC—University of Zaragoza, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Zaragoza, Campus Río Ebro—I + D Building, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain
The influence of various electrospinning parameters on the filtration performance of fibers based on recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) has been evaluated
The parameters that influenced the filtration efficiency the most were the increase in the distance between the needle and the collector and the reduction in the output flow rate of the polymeric solution, in addition to the polymer concentration influence, which was decisive for the final diameter of the fibers obtained
Summary
Laboratorio de Fluidodinámica y Tecnologías de la Combustión (Liftec), CSIC—University of Zaragoza, Abstract: The disposal of single-use personal protective equipment has brought a notable environmental impact in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. During these last two years, part of the global research efforts has been focused on preventing contagion using nanotechnology. The use of a mask will continue to be vital to preventing the spread Faced with these scenarios, developing new recyclable, and more sustainable materials for application in respiratory protection equipment would be beneficial. These publications report particular applications of the material and specific electrospinning conditions without offering a broad point of view on the versatility of PET recycled by electrospinning
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