ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused serious social and public health problems. In the field of personal protection, the facial masks can prevent infectious respiratory diseases, safeguard human health, and promote public safety. Herein, we focused on preparing a core filter layer for masks using electrospun polyvinyl butyral/apocynum venetum extract nanofibrous membranes (PVB/AVE NMs), with durable interception efficiency and antibacterial properties. In the spinning solution, AVE acted as a salt to improve electrical conductivity, and achieve long-lasting interception efficiency with adjustable pore size. It also played the role of an antibacterial agent in PVB/AVE NMs to achieve win-win effects. The hydrophobicity of PVB-AVE-6% was 120.9° whereas its filterability reached 98.3% when the pressure drop resistance was 142 Pa. PVB-AVE-6% exhibited intriguing properties with great antibacterial rates of 99.38% and 98.96% against S. aureus and E. coli, respectively. After a prolonged usability test of 8 h, the filtration efficiency of the PVB/AVE masks remained stable at over 97.7%. Furthermore, the antibacterial rates of the PVB/AVE masks on S. aureus and E. coli were 96.87% and 96.20% respectively, after using for 2 d. These results indicate that PVB/AVE NMs improve the protective performance of ordinary disposable masks, which has certain application in air filtration.
ABSTRACT
Advancements in polymer science and engineering have helped the scientific community to shift its attention towards the use of environmentally benign materials for reducing the environmental impact of conventional synthetic plastics. Biopolymers are environmentally benign, chemically versatile, sustainable, biocompatible, biodegradable, inherently functional, and ecofriendly materials that exhibit tremendous potential for a wide range of applications including food, electronics, agriculture, textile, biomedical, and cosmetics. This review also inspires the researchers toward more consumption of biopolymer-based composite materials as an alternative to synthetic composite materials. Herein, an overview of the latest knowledge of different natural- and synthetic-based biodegradable polymers and their fiber-reinforced composites is presented. The review discusses different degradation mechanisms of biopolymer-based composites as well as their sustainability aspects. This review also elucidates current challenges, future opportunities, and emerging applications of biopolymeric sustainable composites in numerous engineering fields. Finally, this review proposes biopolymeric sustainable materials as a propitious solution to the contemporary environmental crisis. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd.