Testing with real coronavirus
25th May 2021
A study carried out jointly by engineers at UC Riverside and The George Washington University – believed to be the first to employ actual coronavirus aerosols – has proved that a filter made from polymer nanofibres can capture up to 99.9% of them.
To date, all studies on mask or filter efficiency have used other materials thought to mimic the size and behaviour of coronavirus aerosols. The new study improved on this by testing an aerosolised saline solution and an aerosol that contained a coronavirus in the same family as the virus that causes Covid-19, but only infects mice.
Nanothread filter forms barrier against coronavirus aerosols
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Cubrebocas con filtro de nanofibras captura casi 100% de coronavirus
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Nanofiber filter captures almost 100% of coronavirus aerosols
Afilter made from polymer nanothreads blew three kinds of commercial masks out of the water by capturing 99.9% of coronavirus aerosols in an experiment.
“Our work is the first study to use coronavirus aerosols for evaluating filtration efficiency of face masks and air filters,” said corresponding author Yun Shen, a UC Riverside assistant professor of chemical and environmental engineering. “Previous studies have used surrogates of saline solution, polystyrene beads, and bacteriophages a group of viruses that infect bacteria.”
The study, led by engineers at UC Riverside and The George Washington University, compared the effectiveness of surgical and cotton masks, a neck gaiter, and electrospun nanofiber membranes at removing coronavirus aerosols to prevent airborne transmission. The cotton mask and neck gaiter only removed about 45%-73% of the aerosols. The surgical mask did much better, removing 98% of corona