Lithuanian Journal of Physics article / Lietuvos fizikos žurnalo straipsnis

STUDY OF THE AEROSOL PARTICLE FILTRATION EFFICIENCY OF FABRICS USED TO MANUFACTURE NON-MEDICAL FACE MASKS IN LITHUANIA
Kamilė Kandrotaitė^a,b, Vadimas Dudoitis^b, Ieva Uogintė^b, Peter Strizak^c, Francis Pope^d, Kristina Plauškaitė^b, and Steigvilė Byčenkienė^b
^aFaculty of Physics, Vilnius University, Saulėtekio 9, 10222 Vilnius, Lithuania
^b Department of Environmental Research, Center for Physical Sciences and Technology, Saulėtekio 3, 10257 Vilnius, Lithuania
^c L.V. Pisarzhevskii Institute of Physical Chemistry of NAS of Ukraine, 31 Nauky Ave., 03028 Kyiv, Ukraine
^d The University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom
Email: kamile.kandrotaite@ff.stud.vu.lt

Received 21 April 2022; revised 20 June 2022; accepted 20 June 2022

The global spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) proved to be a challenge for public health. The high demand of medical masks worldwide during the pandemic has led to a critical situation for decision-makers regarding high-quality mask supply. For this period, the World Health Organization has suggested the use of non-medical face masks (also known as ‘community’ masks) in public places to reduce the airborne spread of SARS-CoV-2. In this study, the filtration efficiency of various fabrics widely used in community masks was determined based on two main mask filtering properties: filtration efficiency (FE) and pressure drop (ΔP) according to the recommendations of the CEN Workshop Agreement (CWA) 17553:2020. The combination of FE and ΔP parameters must be considered in order to select suitable materials for public masks. The filtration efficiencies for various fabrics ranged from 6 to 100%. It was found that the composite materials have the highest FE equivalent to the requirements of a medical mask (FE > 95%), that is confirmed by high-quality parameters 16–30 kPa^–1. The study found that fabrics of natural fibres (100% cotton) have a higher FE with Ag coating (18–40% before and 29–40% after coating) in the 0.54–1.50 μm particle size range.
Keywords: COVID-19, safety, cloth masks, aerosol particles

LIETUVOJE PRIEINAMŲ AUDINIŲ, TINKAMŲ NEMEDICININIŲ VEIDO KAUKIŲ GAMYBAI, AEROZOLIO DALELIŲ FILTRAVIMO EFEKTYVUMO TYRIMAS
Kamilė Kandrotaitė^a,b, Vadimas Dudoitis^b, Ieva Uogintė^b, Peter Strizak^c, Francis Pope^d, Kristina Plauškaitė^b, Steigvilė Byčenkienė^b

^aVilniaus universiteto Fizikos fakultetas, Vilnius, Lietuva
^b Fizinių ir technologijos mokslų centro Aplinkotyros skyrius, Vilnius, Lietuva
^c Ukrainos nacionalinės mokslų akademijos L.V. Pisarževskio fizikinės chemijos institutas, Kyjivas, Ukraina
^d Birmingamo universitetas, Birmingamas, Jungtinė Karalystė

Spartus sunkaus ūminio kvėpavimo takų sindromo koronaviruso (angl. SARS-CoV-2), paprastai žinomo kaip COVID-19, plitimas – iššūkis visuomenės sveikatai nuo pat pirmojo protrūkio 2019 m. gruodžio gale. Staiga išaugęs medicininių kaukių poreikis lėmė neeilinius sprendimus kokybiškoms kaukėms tiekti. Dėl šios priežasties Pasaulio sveikatos organizacija pasiūlė viešosiose vietose naudoti nemedicinines iš įvairaus audinio pagamintas veido kaukes (kitaip žinomas kaip medžiagines ar visuomenines kaukes), siekiant sumažinti SARS-CoV-2 perdavimą oro lašeliniu būdu. Šiame tyrime buvo remtasi CWA 17553:2020 standartu (angl. CEN Workshop Agreement), pagal kurį išskirti du pagrindiniai filtravimo parametrai: filtravimo efektyvumas (FE) ir slėgio kritimas (ΔP) visame medžiagos plote. Norint parinkti tinkamas medžiagas visuomeninėms kaukėms, reikia atsižvelgti į FE ir ΔP parametrų derinį. Nustatyta, kad aerozolio dalelių filtravimo efektyvumas kinta nuo 6 iki 100 % skirtingame aerozolio dalelių dydžio intervale. Didžiausiu filtravimo efektyvumu, prilygstančiu medicininei kaukei (FE > 95 %) keliamiems reikalavimams, pasižymi kompozitinės medžiagos. Tai patvirtina aukšti kokybės parametrai: 16–30 kPa^–1. Tyrimai parodė, kad medžiagos, kurių sudėtyje vyrauja natūralus pluoštas (80, 100 % medvilnė) po padengimo Ag nanodalelėmis buvo aukštesnio FE (18–40 % prieš ir 29–40 % po padengimo) 0,54–1,50 μm dalelių dydžio intervale.

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