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Face masks created by researchers from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute also have the potential to be worn longer.
“We think this discovery is the first step towards durable personal protective equipment.”
“This can help reduce the transmission of airborne pathogens in general,” said Edmund Palermo of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, as reported by the Press Trust of India news agency.
Through research published recently in the journal Applied ACS Materials and Interfaces, the team was able to incorporate a broad-spectrum antimicrobial polymer into the polypropylene filter used in N95 face masks.
The N95 mask uses mechanical filtration, in which particles are trapped in a matrix of microscopic fibers, and electrostatic filtration, in which the particles are attracted to a surface carrying a static charge.
The combination of these methods makes masker N95 very effective, but electrostatic charges, like any other charge, dissipate over time as air and moisture pass through them.
(wbs)
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