Nanofibre based biodegradable mask for combating COVID-19

The emergence of COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected human healthand world economies. According to WHO guidelines, continuous use of face mask is mandatory forpersonal protection for restricting the spread of bacteria and virus. Here,we reporta 3-ply cotton-PLA-cotton layered biodegradable face-mask containing encapsulated phytochemicals in the inner-filtration layer. The nano-fibrous PLA filtration layer was fabricated usingneedleless electrospinning of PLA & phytochemical-based herbal-extracts. This 3-layred face mask exhibits enhanced air permeability with a differential pressure of 35.78 Pa/cm2 and superior bacterial filtration efficiency of 97.9% compared to conventional face masks. Close-packed mesh structure of the nano-fibrous mat results in effective adsorption of particulate matter, aerosol particles, and bacterial targets deep inside the filtration layer. The outer hydrophobic layer of mask exhibited effective blood splash resistance up to a distance of 30 cm, ensuring its utilization for medical practices. Computational analysis of constituent phytochemicals using the LibDock algorithm predicted inhibitory activity of chemicals against the protein structured bacterial sites. The computational analysis projected superior performance of phytochemicals considering the presence of stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, and Arachidic acid exhibiting structural complementarity to inhibit targeted bacterial interface. Natural cotton fibers and PLA bio-polymer demonstrated promising biodegradable characteristics in the presence of in-house cow-dung based biodegradation slurry. Addition of jaggery to the slurry elevated the biodegradation performance, resulting in increment of change of weight from 07% to 12%. The improved performance was attributed to the increased sucrose content in biodegradation slurry, elevating the bacterial growth in the slurry. An innovative face mask has shown promising results for utilization in day-to-day life and medical frontline workers, considering the post-pandemic environmental impacts.

COVID-19大流行的出现严重影响了人类健康和世界经济。根据世界卫生组织的指导方针，为防止细菌和病毒的传播，个人防护必须强制使用口罩。在这里，我们报告了一个三层棉-PLA-棉层可生物降解的口罩，在内部过滤层中包含封装的植物化学物质。纳米纤维PLA过滤层是使用PLA和基于植物化学的草药提取物的无针电纺丝工艺制成的。与传统面罩相比，这种3层面罩在压差为35.78Pa / cm2的情况下具有增强的透气性和97.9％的出色细菌过滤效率。纳米纤维垫的密排网状结构可有效吸附颗粒物，气溶胶颗粒和细菌目标，深入过滤层内部。口罩的疏水层在30cm的距离内显示出有效的抗血液飞溅性，从而确保了其在医疗实践中的利用。使用LibDock算法进行的成分植物化学物质的计算分析预测了化学物质对蛋白质结构化细菌部位的抑制活性。考虑到硬脂酸，油酸，亚油酸和花生四烯酸具有结构互补性以抑制目标细菌界面，因此计算分析预测植物化学物的优异性能。天然棉纤维和PLA生物聚合物在室内牛粪基生物降解浆液的存在下显示出非常厉害的生物降解特性。在浆液中添加粗糖会提高生物降解性能，导致重量变化从07％增加到12％。性能的提高归因于生物降解浆料中蔗糖含量的增加，从而提高了浆料中细菌的生长。考虑到大流行后的环境影响，创新的口罩在日常生活和医疗一线人员中的使用已显示出非常令人满意的结果。

Published: 2021

Journal ：Chemical engineering journal (Lausanne, Switzerland : 1996)

Impact Factor：10.652

Paper link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1385894721007439