Design and Development of a Three Layered Surgical Mask for Healthcare Professionals Against COVID-19

Abstract

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) guidelines regarding prevention and control of the COVID-19 outbreak recommends respiratory hygiene and the use of personal protective equipment. Three layered antiviral mask has been developed by combining polyester nonwoven as an outer, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) as a middle and viscose nonwoven as an inner layer. All three layers of fabrics were fused as laminate to develop the mask to protect healthcare professionals from coronavirus. All the surgical mask tests were performed to make compliance with global standards. Primarily viral penetration and bacterial filtration efficiency was performed according to ASTM standard F1671 and F2100, respectively. It has been observed that the mean flow pore diameter of single layer polyester surgical mask, dual layer of polyester and PTFE film surgical mask and three layered surgical mask was 0.33, 0.30 and 0.39\xa0µm. The developed three layered fabric with polyester as an outer layer, microporous PTFE film as a middle layer and viscose nonwoven fabric as an inner layer has passed the viral penetration test, which confirms that the mask has protection against coronavirus. Paired t’-test analysis of the tensile strength in machine and cross directions shows that there is significant difference at 95% confidence interval. Single layer polyester nonwoven surgical mask failed viral penetration test as the average pore diameter is 0.33\xa0µm which is more than size of ΦX174 bacteriophage virus as 0.2\xa0µm and in the absence of PTFE film. Dual and three layered surgical mask passed viral penetration analysis as it has smallest pore diameter is 0.16 and 0.19\xa0µm, respectively. PTFE film allows water vapor to pass through. In the current pathetic and demanding situation, the three layered surgical mask was having barrier against coronavirus which facilitate healthcare care professionals from cross-contamination and protecting them from current pandemic. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.