Preparation of PLA-based SMS nonwoven composites and its applications in protective apparel

The global COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a huge demand for the protective nonwovens. However, the main raw material of nonwovens comes from petroleum, and the massive consumption of petroleum-based polymers brings great pressure to ecosystem. Therefore, it is significant to develop biodegradable protective barrier products. In this work, a polylactic-based composite (a tri-layer nonwovens composed of spunbond, meltblown and spunbond, SMS) was prepared and applied for protective apparel. The surface morphology and chemical changes of the fibers were characterized and analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The liquid contact angle and permeability, breathability and moisture permeability, frictional charge and mechanical strength of the samples were evaluated and compared. The samples degradability was also recorded. The results demonstrate that the optimum formula for anti-fouling treatment on SMS is F-30. The treated fabric possesses superior liquid repellency and anti-permeability, with contact angles of water and alcohol at 128° and 115° respectively, while the alcohol repellent grade reaches level 7. The treated sample has less strength loss but exhibits favorable breathability, moisture permeability and anti-static properties, which can meet the requirements of protective apparels. After fluorine resin coating, the composite still provide excellent degradation performance, and the weight loss rate reaches more than 80% after 10 days water degradation. These results provide new insights for the application of PLA-based SMS in biodegradable protective apparel. © 2023 The Textile Institute.

Measuring Total Filtration Efficiency of Surgical and Community Face Masks: Impact of Mask Design Features

Surgical and community face masks are used worldwide to reduce the transmission of respiratory infections in indoor environments. Performance parameters for these loose-fitting devices are mainly focused on material filtering efficiency, while, differently from face respirators, there are no standard methods for measuring the fraction of air leaking at the face seal. This study quantifies the total filtration efficiency (TFE), a parameter based both on filter efficiency and air leakage, of 50 face mask models with the aim of understanding the role of several mask design features on TFE performance. An instrumented head form equipped with sensors for measuring volumetric airflow and differential pressure was used to simulate the air exhalation from the mouth of a person wearing a face mask. A response surface method (RSM) was used to model the TFE experimental data. Results showed that TFE values ranged over a wide interval (from 5% to 73%), with better values at higher flow rates. A significant positive correlation was found between TFE and filter breathability. The presence of a nosepiece (NP) showed to increase the TFE on average from 4% to 6%, according to the flow rate. Significant improvements were associated only to nosepieces incorporating a metallic wire. The RSM model evidenced that the increase in the number of the filter layers and the use of a meltblown layer result in higher TFE only when a nosepiece is in place. Differently, the benefit of the nosepiece is less marked for masks made of highly breathable filters. To improve overall mask performance, the design of loose-fitting face masks should carefully compromise between breathability and filtration efficiency of the filter materials. The addition of a metallic nosepiece helps improving the TFE by limiting the air leaking at the face seal. © 1963-2012 IEEE.

The aerolayer: airborne filtration by aerodynamic focusing and growth

In this work, a novel approach for airborne filtration with particular reference to medical (non-oil) medical mask is discussed. Here, and contrariwise to current approaches, filtration is attained neither by reducing the hydraulic diameter of the pore nor by increasing the fibre layers thickness-both of them with a strong penalty in the breathability of the mask, but rather by aerodynamic focussing and growth of the particles themselves. Aerodynamic focussing of particles is achieved by a proper simple parallel rearrangement of the traditional crisscrossing fibres-a configuration which we called the aerolayer;and the growth by coalescence. Utilizing a simplified geometrical and physical model, an expression for the required length of the aerolayer was derived. It is shown that the aerolayer is not only able to increase the probability of capture for small particles but also can potentially improve the breathability by reduction of the total thickness of the current layers required. Additional R &D is required in order to arrive to the most optimized practical design of the aerolayer. © 2023, Indian Academy of Sciences.

Filtration Performance and Fiber Shedding Behavior in Common Respirator and Face Mask Materials

Wearing respirators and face masks is effective for protecting the public from COVID-19 infection. Thus, there is a need to evaluate the performance of the commonly used respirators and face masks. Two experimental systems were developed to investigate seven different mask materials, which have a fiber size range from 0.1 µm (100 nm) to 20 µm (20,000 nm). One of the systems is a computer-controlled setup for measuring the filtration performance, including size-dependent filtration efficiency and pressure drop, while the other system is for testing the fiber shedding behavior of the materials. The technique of scanning electron microscope (SEM) was applied to observe the dimensions and structures of those materials, which are made of nonwoven-fabrics electret-treated media, cotton woven fabrics, or nanofiber media. The study indicated that the 3M N95 respirator has the best overall filtration performance with over 95% efficiency and low pressure drop of 74.1 Pa. The two commercial cotton face masks have the worst filtration performance in general, with a filtration efficiency of around 25%. No broken fibers from by the seven tested respirator and face mask materials were discovered;however, dendrite structures likely shed by the SHEMA97 face mask with a size comparable to its nanoscale fibers were identified. The reason for this phenomena is presented. © 2023, AAGR Aerosol and Air Quality Research. All rights reserved.

Multifunctional composite coatings with hydrophobic, UV-resistant, anti-oxidative, and photothermal performance for healthcare.

Personal protective textiles have attracted extensive interest since Corona Virus Disease 2019 has broken out. Moreover, developing eco-friendly, multifunctional waterproof, and breathable surface is of great importance but still faces enormous challenges. Notably, good hydrophobicity and breathability are necessary for protective textiles, especially protective clothing and face masks for healthcare. Herein, the multifunctional composite coatings with good UV-resistant, anti-oxidative, hydrophobic, breathable, and photothermal performance has been rapidly created to meet protective requirements. First, the gallic acid and chitosan polymer was coated onto the cotton fabric surface. Subsequently, the modified silica sol was anchored on the coated cotton fabric surface. The successful fabrication of composite coatings was verified by RGB values obtained from the smartphone and K/S value. The present work is an advance for realizing textile hydrophobicity by utilizing fluorine-free materials, compared with the surface hydrophobicity fabricated with conventional fluorinated materials. The surface free energy has been reduced from 84.2 to27.6 mJ/m2 so that the modified cotton fabric could repel the ethylene glycol, hydrochloric acid, and sodium hydroxide solutions, respectively. Besides, the composite coatings possesses lower adhesion to deionized water. After 70 cycles of the sandpaper abrasion, the fluorine-free hydrophobic coatings still exhibits good hydrophobicity with WCA of 124.6 ± 0.9°, with overcoming the intrinsic drawback of the poor abrasion resistance of hydrophobic surfaces. Briefly, the present work may provide a universal strategy for rapidly creating advanced protective coatings to meet personal healthcare, and a novel method for detecting RGB values of composite coatings by smartphone.

A Comparison of the Effect of Facemasks on Perceived Breathability and Air Quality during Daily Activities and Indoor Exercises.

Transmission of COVID-19 occurs predominantly through respired droplets and aerosols containing the SARS-CoV-2 virus. As a solution, face masks have been used to protect against infection. Wearing face masks during indoor exercises is essential to prevent the spread of virus-containing respiratory droplets and aerosols. However, previous studies have not investigated all elements, including the users' perceived breathability (PB) and perceived air quality (PAQ) when wearing a face mask during indoor exercises. The current study aimed to assess users' perceived comfort (PC) of face masks based on assessment criteria of PB and PAQ during moderate to vigorous exercises, and compare them with those during normal daily activities. Data on PC, PB, and PAQ were collected from an online questionnaire survey from 104 participants doing regular moderate to vigorous exercises. Within-subjects comparison with self-controlled case series design was performed to compare PC, PB, and PAQ between wearing face masks during exercises and daily activities. Results showed that the degree of dissatisfaction with PC, PB, and PAQ while wearing face masks and performing indoor exercises is higher than when performing daily activities (p < 0.05). The significance of the study implies that masks comfortable for daily activities may not remain the same during moderate to vigorous exercises, especially during indoor exercises.

Comparison of the performance properties of spunlaid non-woven fabrics used as face mask

Face masks have an effect of preventing the spread of infectious diseases such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). With these masks, it is primarily aimed to prevent the environment from being contaminated by the user. However, in the COVID-19 outbreak, many countries made it mandatory to use masks in areas with high human circulation such as marketplaces, shopping malls and hospitals, and then in all areas outside the home. Some tests such as filtration efficiency, microbial load, resistance to body fluids, flammability and breathability are performed to determine the protection potential and wearing comfort of face masks. In this study, we investigated the bacterial filtration efficiency (%), microbial load (cfu/g), breathability (Pa/cm2) and air permeability values of five different face masks obtained by combining polypropylene (PP) nonwoven layers in different weights (accordance with EN 14683:2019 + AC:2019, EN ISO 11737-1:2018 and TS 391 EN ISO 9237 Standards). The surface morphologies of the nonwoven fabrics were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM). It was observed that the weight change in spunbond masks (1–4) was directly proportional to bacterial filtration efficiency and differential pressure, and inversely proportional to air permeability. In addition, SEM analysis showed that the average fiber diameter of the meltblown layer was at least 5.80 times smaller than the spunbond layers, and as a result, dramatic differences were also observed in the air permeability and differential pressure values of the Spunbond-Meltblown-Spunbond (SMS) mask (5) compared to spunbond masks.

Cloth Face Coverings: Effect of Decontamination Method on Fabric Performance

Various textiles have previously been evaluated for use in cloth face masks as a reusable option to help control the spread of respiratory viruses, but only their initial performance was tested. In this study, a broad range of fabrics (3 knit, 7 woven, and 3 nonwoven) were characterized for filtration efficiency (FE) and air permeability (AP) before and after 40 decontamination cycles by home laundry, microwave-generated steam, or dishwasher sterilization. AP was quantified following ASTM D737, and FE was assessed using NaCl aerosol in a simulated breathing system. While most fabrics maintained or improved their FE after 40 decontamination cycles, the AP of many fabrics decreased due to detergent buildup, fiber breakage, and fabric shrinkage. Tightly woven cotton fabrics had unacceptably low AP and FE performance. Knit and nonwoven structures had the best balance of properties, and although they are not recommended for use in single-layer masks, they have potential use in multilayer masks.

A novel face mask design with improved properties for COVID-19 prevention

Novel cloth face masks to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 have been developed and tested for particle (0.1 mu m in size) filtration efficiency, bacterial filtration efficiency, breathability, leakage, heart rate, and blood oxygen level, and then compared with the available N95 masks and surgical masks. It was found that this novel mask had better filtration efficiency than that of surgical masks and was very close to that of N95 masks. The breathability was also improved and was in the range of the designated levels for barrier face coverings. The flow visualization technique was utilized to study the leakage of the mask and it was found to have significantly lower leakage as compared to surgical masks. Heart rate and blood oxygen level tests were performed by wearing the mask during 10-minute walking sessions and it was found that wearing the mask did not adversely affect heart rate or blood oxygen levels or add any other strain on the wearer. It is believed that this novel face mask would reduce the spread of COVID-19 as well as provide an environmentally and economically conscious alternative to the N95 respirators for the public. The mask developed in this study can be washed, reused, and therefore worn for longer periods of time.

Reusability of face masks: Influence of washing and comparison of performance between medical face masks and community face masks

Reusability of masks is a rising environmental concern. Community face masks present a more eco-friendly option as they can be washed and reused several times. The potential reuse of single use medical face masks is also of interest. In this work, the impact of 20 wash cycles (at 60 degrees C with detergent and air-drying) on the particle filtration efficiency (particle size range 0.1-6. 5 mu m) and breathability of masks was studied. With regards to the performance of new masks, the medical mask had breathability of 31 Pa.cm(-2) whilst it ranged from 9 to 59 Pa.cm(-2) for the community face masks. Additionally, for 3 mu m particles, the filtration efficiency was 99% for the medical mask and ranged from 28%-89% for the community face masks. Mixed fabric masks were able to maintain their performance up to 20 washing cycles. The washed 100% cotton masks were less breathable but with higher filtration efficiency because of shrinkage of the fabric. The washed medical face mask was able to maintain its breathability and filtration efficiency for sizes >= 3 mu m, however the filtration efficiency was significantly reduced for the submicron particles. This was because the presence of detergent caused the loss of electrostatic charges and led to a decrease of the particle collection by the electrostatic forces. All things considered, both the medical face mask and community face masks can be reused several times, with performances in terms of breathability and filtration efficiency (for particle sizes >= 3 mu m) that remain globally little changed after washing. (c) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

The role of filter breathability in reducing the fraction of exhaled air leaking from surgical and community face masks

Face masks are used worldwide to reduce COVID-19 transmission in indoor environments. Differently from face respirators, there are no standards methods for measuring the fraction of air leaking at the face seal of loose-fitting masks such as medical and community masks. This study applies a recently developed method to quantify air leakage at the face seal to 14 medical and community mask models with the aim to understand the role of mask design and filter properties in air leakage. An instrumented head-form equipped with sensors for measuring volumetric airflow and differential pressure was used to simulate the air exhalation from the mouth of a person wearing a face mask. Results showed that the fraction of leaking air at the face seal is not negligible and can range from 10% to 95% according to mask model. The higher the exhaled airflow rate and the lower the amount of leaking fraction. A strong correlation was found between leaking fraction and filter breathability, indicating that a better breathability can lower air leakage. Highly breathable filtering materials should be employed in the production of medical and community face masks to maximize user comfort and minimize the fraction of exhaled air leaking unfiltered at the face seal. © 2022 IEEE.

Evaluating Filtering Facepiece Respirator Wearing-Comfort of Lebanese Red Cross Healthcare Providers.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic significantly increased the usage of various types of face masks. In addition, it triggered the rapid manufacture of new production lines of masks to cope with the unprecedented demand to overcome worldwide shortages. Such masks, which were previously used mostly by the health care personnel, became a daily necessity to the greater mainstream population. This rapid and sudden increase in their usage and the fact that new masks' innovations are progressively emerging to meet the growing global shortage requires an ongoing analysis on the factors associated with the fit and comfort while using these masks. Methods: This paper presents the first translation and validation of the R-COMFI questionnaire to evaluate the comfort of a newly developed filtering face-piece respirator by the research team at the University of Antwerp. The questionnaire, which consists of 3 sections: Discomfort, General wearing experience, and Function, was translated from English to Arabic and involved 43 participants in the Lebanese Red Cross healthcare field based in Lebanon. Results: The results showed discomfort factors that are mostly related to breathability and sweating caused by mask usage. Additionally, the results revealed that female respondents found the mask significantly less comfortable than male respondents (p-value with the two-tailed test is 0.0319), which confirmed that future validations should consider the concerns of both genders, and validated the R-COMFI translation exercise detailed in this paper. Discussion: The contribution of this paper can be pinned down into three findings. The first finding is related to the discomfort issues. The second finding highlighted a significant difference in comfort experience between females and males. The last finding is the translation validation of the R-COMFI instrument, which confirmed that the questionnaire can be applied among wider geographical locations.

Assessing effectiveness and comfortability of a two-layer cloth mask with a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) insert to mitigate COVID-19 transmission

A face mask is essential personal protective equipment to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. While a cloth mask has the least ability to prevent the passage of infectious respiratory droplets through it compared to surgical and N95 masks, the surgical mask does not fit snugly and causes significant air leakage. The synthetic fibers in the latter reduce comfortability and are an allergen for facial eczema. Moreover, the N95 mask causes CO2 inhalation and reduces heat transfer in the nose. Therefore, the objective of the present work is to improve the effectiveness of a two-layer cloth mask by introducing an intermediate, high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter layer. A significant volume of impacted droplets penetrates through a single-layer cloth mask, ejecting secondary droplets from the rear side. However, a two-layer cloth mask prevents this ejection. Despite slowing down the liquid penetration, capillary imbibition through cloth due to its hydrophilicity causes the transport of the liquid into the second layer, resulting in a thin-liquid layer at the mask's rear-side surface and contaminating it. Conversely, the HEPA filter inserted in the cloth mask prevents the imbibition, making the second cloth layer free of contamination. We attribute the impedance to the imbibition by the intermediate HEPA filter layer to its hydrophobic characteristics. We experimentally and analytically assess the role of wettability on capillary imbibition. The breathability measurements of masks show that the HEPA inserted in the cloth mask does not reduce its breathability compared to that of the surgical mask. © 2022 Author(s).

One year of surgical mask testing at the University of Bologna labs: Lessons learned from data analysis.

The outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic highlighted the worldwide lack of surgical masks and personal protective equipment, which represent the main defense available against respiratory diseases as COVID-19. At the time, masks shortage was dramatic in Italy, the first European country seriously hit by the pandemic: aiming to address the emergency and to support the Italian industrial reconversion to the production of surgical masks, a multidisciplinary team of the University of Bologna organized a laboratory to test surgical masks according to European regulations. The group, driven by the expertise of chemical engineers, microbiologists, and occupational physicians, set-up the test lines to perform all the functional tests required. The laboratory started its activity on late March 2020, and as of the end of December of the same year 435 surgical mask prototypes were tested, with only 42 masks compliant to the European standard. From the analysis of the materials used, as well as of the production methods, it was found that a compliant surgical mask is most likely composed of three layers, a central meltblown filtration layer and two external spunbond comfort layers. An increase in the material thickness (grammage), or in the number of layers, does not improve the filtration efficiency, but leads to poor breathability, indicating that filtration depends not only on pure size exclusion, but other mechanisms are taking place (driven by electrostatic charge). The study critically reviewed the European standard procedures, identifying the weak aspects; among the others, the control of aerosol droplet size during the bacterial filtration test results to be crucial, since it can change the classification of a mask when its performance lies near to the limiting values of 95 or 98%.

Effect of washing on quality, breathability performance and reusability of disposable face masks.

Disposable face masks are among the personal protective equipment (PPE) that highly contribute to protecting people in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic. Health authorities recommend wearing a mask as a barrier measure to limit the spread of viral respiratory diseases. During the first waves of the pandemic, besides professional high-quality PPE, decontaminated disposable mask reuse and homemade cloth masks were allowed due to scarcities. This work introduces a simple method based on-time history of the differential pressure, and an easy to use the setup for the testing of different kinds of respiratory protective masks for the purposes of quality control and evaluation of air permeability performance. The standard mask testing method and the new proposed approach were then used to evaluate the effect of machine washing on the widely used type of disposable masks; namely the surgical (medical) face masks. The objective is to determine the number of acceptable washing cycles that this kind of mask can withstand before losing its performance in terms of breathability and airflow resistance. Other quality characteristics such as material (fibres) degradation and hydrophobicity are investigated. Degradation mechanisms due to washing cycles for the different mask constituent layers were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging. This work is an attempt to contribute to the determination of the reusability threshold of general-purpose disposable surgical type face masks thereby contributing to the reduction of environmental concerns. Results in terms of the studied above parameters suggest limiting the reuse of standard type surgical masks to only one machine washing cycle.

A Simple Method to Quantify Outward Leakage of Medical Face Masks and Barrier Face Coverings: Implication for the Overall Filtration Efficiency.

Face masking proved essential to reduce transmission of COVID-19 and other respiratory infections in indoor environments, but standards and literature do not provide simple quantitative methods for quantifying air leakage at the face seal. This study reports an original method to quantify outward leakage and how wearing style impacts on leaks and filtration efficiency. The amount of air leakage was evaluated on four medical masks and four barrier face coverings, exploiting a theoretical model and an instrumented dummy head in a range of airflows between 30 and 160 L/min. The fraction of air leaking at the face seal of the medical masks and barrier face coverings ranged from 43% to 95% of exhaled air at 30 L/min and reduced to 10-85% at 160 L/min. Filter breathability was the main driver affecting both leak fraction and total filtration efficiency that varied from 5% to 53% and from 15% to 84% at 30 and 160 L/min, respectively. Minor changes were related to wearing style, supporting indications on the correct mask use. The fraction of air leaking from medical masks and barrier face coverings during exhalation is relevant and varies according to design and wearing style. The use of highly breathable filter materials reduces air leaks and improve total filtration efficiency.

An Experimental Analysis of Five Household Equipment-Based Methods for Decontamination and Reuse of Surgical Masks.

The current coronavirus pandemic has increased worldwide consumption of individual protective devices. Single-use surgical masks are one of the most used devices to prevent the transmission of the COVID-19 virus. Nevertheless, the improper management of such protective equipment threatens our environment with a new form of plastic pollution. With the intention of contributing to a responsible policy of recycling, in the present work, five decontamination methods for used surgical masks that can be easily replicated with common household equipment are described. The decontamination procedures were hot water at 40 °C and 80 °C; autoclave; microwave at 750 W; and ultraviolet germicidal irradiation. After each decontamination procedure, the bacterial load reduction of Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538 was recorded to verify the effectiveness of these methods and, moreover, bacterial filtration efficiency and breathability tests were performed to evaluate mask performances. The best results were obtained with the immersion in 80 °C water and the microwave-assisted sterilization. Both methods achieved a high degree of mask decontamination without altering the filtration efficiency and breathability, in accordance with the quality standard. The proposed decontamination methods represent a useful approach to reduce the environmental impact of this new waste material. Moreover, these procedures can be easily reproduced with common household equipment to increase the recycling efforts.

A Physical Analog to Assess Surgical Face Mask Air Flow Resistance During Tidal Ventilation.

A large variety of disposable face masks have been produced since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Decreased resistance to inspiration improves adherence to the use of the mask; the so called breathability is usually estimated by the measurement of air flow across a section of the tissue under a given pressure difference. We hypothesized that the mask pressure-flow relationship studied in conditions that mimic tidal breathing could allow a more comprehensive characterization of airflow resistance, a major determinant of mask comfort. A physical analog was made of a plaster cast dummy head connected through a pneumotachograph to a series of bellows inflated/deflated by a respirator. Pressure was measured at the mock airway opening over which the mask was carefully secured. The precision of the measurement equipment was quantified using two estimates of measurement error: repeatability coefficient (RC) and within-mask coefficient of variation (CVwm). The airflow resistance of 10 surgical masks was tested on 4 different days. Resistance means did not differ significantly among four repeated measures (0.34 hPa.s.L-1; 0.37 hPa.s.L-1; 0.37 hPa.s.L-1; and 0.37 hPa.s.L-1; p = 0.08), the estimated RC was 0.08 hPa.s.L-1 [95%CI: 0.06-0.10 hPa.s.L-1], and CVwm was 8.7% [95%CI: 1.5-12.2%]. Multiple comparisons suggest the presence of a learning effect by which the operator reduced the error over the course of repetitive resistance measurements. Measurement precision improved considerably when the first set of measures was not taken into account [RC ~ 0.05 hPa.s.L-1 (95%CI: 0.03-0.06 hPa.s.L-1); CVwm~4.5% (95%CI: 1.9-6.1%)]. The testing of the face mask resistance (R) appears simple and highly repeatable in conditions that resemble tidal breathing, once operator training was assured. The procedure adds further to the current standard assessment of breathability and allows estimating the maximal added respiratory load, about 10-20% of the respiratory resistance reported in heathy adult subjects.

Unmasking the Mask: Investigating the Role of Physical Properties in the Efficacy of Fabric Masks to Prevent the Spread of the COVID-19 Virus.

To function as source control, a fabric mask must be able to filter micro-droplets (≥5 µm) in expiratory secretions and still allow the wearer to breathe normally. This study investigated the effects of fabric structural properties on the filtration efficiency (FE) and air permeability (AP) of a range of textile fabrics, using a new method to measure the filtration of particles in the described conditions. The FE improved significantly when the number of layers increased. The FE of the woven fabrics was generally higher, but double-layer weft knitted fabrics, especially when combined with a third (filter) layer, provided a comparable FE without compromising on breathability. This also confirmed the potential of nonwoven fabrics as filter layers in masks. None of the physical fabric properties studied affected FE significantly more than the others. The variance in results achieved within the sample groups show that the overall performance properties of each textile fabric are a product of its combined physical or structural properties, and assumptions that fabrics which appear to be similar will exhibit the same performance properties cannot be made. The combination of layers of fabric in the design of a mask further contributes to the product performance.

Protective Face Masks: Current Status and Future Trends.

Management of the COVID-19 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has relied in part on the use of personal protective equipment (PPE). Face masks, as a representative example of PPE, have made a particularly significant contribution. However, most commonly used face masks are made of materials lacking inactivation properties against either SARS-CoV-2 or multidrug-resistant bacteria. Therefore, symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals wearing masks can still infect others due to viable microbial loads escaping from the masks. Moreover, microbial contact transmission can occur by touching the mask, and the discarded masks are an increasing source of contaminated biological waste and a serious environmental threat. For this reason, during the current pandemic, many researchers have worked to develop face masks made of advanced materials with intrinsic antimicrobial, self-cleaning, reusable, and/or biodegradable properties, thereby providing extra protection against pathogens in a sustainable manner. To overview this segment of the remarkable efforts against COVID-19, this review describes the different types of commercialized face masks, their main fabrication methods and treatments, and the progress achieved in face mask development.