Development of Functional Filter Materials for Virus Protective Face Masks

Advanced Materials Technologies, vol. 8

Abstract

Abstract Wearing face masks during pandemics is an important protective measure against the spreading of virus‐related infectious diseases. Nevertheless, the risk of indirect transmission of virus by handling masks is one of the earliest concerns. This problem can be minimized by supplementing the masks’ textile structure with virus protective coatings. Therefore, in this concept, suitable techniques for manufacturing virus protective filter media should be evaluated. In this study, nonwoven polyamide 6 (PA6) filter material is functionalized with negatively charged linear polyglycerol sulfate (LPGS) as a virus binding functional group. Two coating conditions are investigated in which the direct covalent coating with LPGS has emerged as the optimum coating method, showing no damage to the PA6 nanofiber structure. The uncoated PA6 and LPGS‐coated PA6 filter materials exhibited virus particle filtration efficiencies of 95% and 94% for airborne feline coronavirus, 98% and 86% for airborne equine herpesvirus 1(EHV‐1), respectively. However, the SARS‐CoV‐2 absorption assay in solution indicates that the LPGS coating reduces viral titres up to 71% when incubating with the LPGS‐coated PA6 filter media for one‐hour. Thus, such an effect is not seen for uncoated PA6 materials. These findings confirm the suitability of LPGS coating as a suitable platform for suppression the spreading of viruses in different pandemics.

Authors 13

1. Fatemeh Zabihi

   Freie Universität Berlin

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Freie Universität Berlin 14195 Berlin Germany

2. Janina Reissner

   Freie Universität Berlin

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Animal Hygiene and Environmental Health Department of Veterinary Medicine Freie Universität Berlin 14163 Berlin Germany

3. Anika Friese

   Freie Universität Berlin

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Animal Hygiene and Environmental Health Department of Veterinary Medicine Freie Universität Berlin 14163 Berlin Germany

4. Maiko Schulze

   Freie Universität Berlin

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Freie Universität Berlin 14195 Berlin Germany

5. Chuanxiong Nie

   Freie Universität Berlin

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Freie Universität Berlin 14195 Berlin Germany

6. Philip Nickl

   Freie Universität Berlin

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Freie Universität Berlin 14195 Berlin Germany

7. Leon Lehmann

   Freie Universität Berlin

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Freie Universität Berlin 14195 Berlin Germany

8. Paul Siller

   Freie Universität Berlin

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Animal Hygiene and Environmental Health Department of Veterinary Medicine Freie Universität Berlin 14163 Berlin Germany

9. Christoph Melcher Aachen

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institut für Textiltechnik und Lehrstuhl für Textilmaschinenbau Otto‐Blumenthal‐Str. 1 52074 Aachen Germany

10. Thomas Schneiders Aachen

    RWTH Aachen University

    Affiliation as printed

    Institut für Textiltechnik und Lehrstuhl für Textilmaschinenbau Otto‐Blumenthal‐Str. 1 52074 Aachen Germany

11. Thomas Gries Aachen

    RWTH Aachen University

    Affiliation as printed

    Institut für Textiltechnik und Lehrstuhl für Textilmaschinenbau Otto‐Blumenthal‐Str. 1 52074 Aachen Germany

12. Uwe Rösler corresponding

    Freie Universität Berlin

    Affiliation as printed

    Institute for Animal Hygiene and Environmental Health Department of Veterinary Medicine Freie Universität Berlin 14163 Berlin Germany

13. Rainer Haag corresponding

    Freie Universität Berlin

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Freie Universität Berlin 14195 Berlin Germany