Towards the Development of Triboelectricity-Based Virus Killer Face Mask for COVID-19: Role of Different Inputs

ABSTRACT

Since the early detection of COVID-19 infection in December 2019, the number of infected persons has been increasing day by day. In this present scenario, people worldwide are reorganizing their life taking safety precautions like doing frequent sanitization, wearing face masks, and avoiding social gathering to protect themselves from getting infected as the proven vaccine or lifesaving drugs are yet to be discovered. However, deficiency of face mask and their reusability have become a key issue because the used masks need to be discarded after some time. In this background, we propose the design of a self-powered (no external power source) face mask which does not require to be sterilized. The proposed mask is comprised of two differently charged tribo-series materials with outer electrocution layer. Different combinations of tribo-series (+ and −) materials have been chosen based on their triboelectric properties to generate static electricity. Nanofibers have been considered for their ability to generate a sufficient amount of triboelectricity. Multilayer of electrospun nanofiber-based tribo-materials such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)-nylon and PVDF-poly(ethyl methacrylate) has been used due to the effective air filtration property of nanofibers and generating tribo electricity. In addition, the generated charge via utilization of contact electrification and electrostatic induction is amplified using a suitable energy harvesting circuit. The design of an outer electrocution layer has been made keeping a few nm distances in between the tribo-layers and the electrocution layer to avoid short-circuiting. Metallic nonwoven fabric has been taken in practice to design the outer electrocution layer. In this practice, the harvesting of triboelectric energy has been done using a suitable charging circuit which can generate sufficient voltage (few volts) to trigger the outer electrocution layer. During the wearer’s inhalation and exhalation, the inner tribo-layers produce triboelectric charges due to mechanical agitation between the layers. Additionally, acoustic or air vibration during talking and different facial expressions of the volunteer will also take part in the generation of effective triboelectric power. The viruses get electrocuted once the droplets containing viruses come in contact to the mask’s outer layer. In addition, the fitting comfort and the breathing permeability of the proposed mask are also ensured. In this chapter, we shall explain the face mask’s design and present the analysis results of different physiological inputs for the efficacy of the mask for killing the deadly virus. © 2022, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.