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Experimental Evidence for the Optimal Design of a High-Performing Cloth Mask.
Bhattacharjee, Shovon; Bahl, Prateek; de Silva, Charitha; Doolan, Con; Chughtai, Abrar Ahmad; Heslop, David; MacIntyre, Chandini Raina.
  • Bhattacharjee S; Biosecurity Program, The Kirby Institute, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
  • Bahl P; School of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
  • de Silva C; School of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
  • Doolan C; School of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
  • Chughtai AA; School of Population Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
  • Heslop D; School of Population Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
  • MacIntyre CR; Biosecurity Program, The Kirby Institute, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
ACS Biomater Sci Eng ; 7(6): 2791-2802, 2021 06 14.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1275857
ABSTRACT
Cloth masks can be an alternative to medical masks during pandemics. Recent studies have examined the performance of fabrics under various conditions; however, the performance against violent respiratory events such as human sneezes is yet to be explored. Accordingly, we present a comprehensive experimental study using sneezes by a healthy adult and a tailored image-based flow measurement diagnostic system evaluating all dimensions of protection of commonly available fabrics and their layered combinations the respiratory droplet blocking efficiency, water resistance, and breathing resistance. Our results reveal that a well-designed cloth mask can outperform a three-layered surgical mask for such violent respiratory events. Specifically, increasing the number of layers significantly increases the droplet blocking efficiency, on average by ∼20 times per additional fabric layer. A minimum of three layers is necessary to resemble the droplet blocking performance of surgical masks, and a combination of cotton/linen (hydrophilic inner layer)-blends (middle layer)-polyester/nylon (hydrophobic outer layer) exhibited the best performance among overall indicators tested. In an optimum three-layered design, the average thread count should be greater than 200, and the porosity should be less than 2%. Furthermore, machine washing at 60 °C did not significantly impact the performance of cloth masks. These findings inform the design of high-performing homemade cloth masks.
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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: COVID-19 Type of study: Experimental Studies Limits: Adult / Humans Language: English Journal: ACS Biomater Sci Eng Year: 2021 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: Acsbiomaterials.1c00368

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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: COVID-19 Type of study: Experimental Studies Limits: Adult / Humans Language: English Journal: ACS Biomater Sci Eng Year: 2021 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: Acsbiomaterials.1c00368