Face Masks to Combat Coronavirus (COVID-19)—Processing, Roles, Requirements, Efficacy, Risk and Sustainability
Increasingly prevalent respiratory infectious diseases (e.g., COVID-19) have posed severe threats to public health. Viruses including coronavirus, influenza, and so on can cause respiratory infections. A pandemic may potentially emerge owing to the worldwide spread of the virus through persistent hu...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-03-01
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| Series: | Polymers |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/14/7/1296 |
| _version_ | 1797437988127375360 |
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| author | Md Zillur Rahman Md Enamul Hoque Md Rubel Alam Md Abdur Rouf Saiful Islam Khan Huaizhong Xu Seeram Ramakrishna |
| author_facet | Md Zillur Rahman Md Enamul Hoque Md Rubel Alam Md Abdur Rouf Saiful Islam Khan Huaizhong Xu Seeram Ramakrishna |
| author_sort | Md Zillur Rahman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Increasingly prevalent respiratory infectious diseases (e.g., COVID-19) have posed severe threats to public health. Viruses including coronavirus, influenza, and so on can cause respiratory infections. A pandemic may potentially emerge owing to the worldwide spread of the virus through persistent human-to-human transmission. However, transmission pathways may vary; respiratory droplets or airborne virus-carrying particles can have a key role in transmitting infections to humans. In conjunction with social distancing, hand cleanliness, and other preventative measures, the use of face masks is considered to be another scientific approach to combat ubiquitous coronavirus. Different types of face masks are produced using a range of materials (e.g., polypropylene, polyacrylonitrile, polycarbonate, polyurethane, polystyrene, polyester and polyethylene) and manufacturing techniques (woven, knitted, and non-woven) that provide different levels of protection to the users. However, the efficacy and proper disposal/management of the used face masks, particularly the ones made of non-biodegradable polymers, pose great environmental concerns. This review compiles the recent advancements of face masks, covering their requirements, materials and techniques used, efficacy, challenges, risks, and sustainability towards further enhancement of the quality and performance of face masks. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T11:30:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7ab3da73bd1b45b0a504647062e22dc4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4360 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T11:30:36Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Polymers |
| spelling | doaj.art-7ab3da73bd1b45b0a504647062e22dc42023-11-30T23:52:31ZengMDPI AGPolymers2073-43602022-03-01147129610.3390/polym14071296Face Masks to Combat Coronavirus (COVID-19)—Processing, Roles, Requirements, Efficacy, Risk and SustainabilityMd Zillur Rahman0Md Enamul Hoque1Md Rubel Alam2Md Abdur Rouf3Saiful Islam Khan4Huaizhong Xu5Seeram Ramakrishna6Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (AUST), Dhaka 1208, BangladeshDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), Dhaka 1216, BangladeshDepartment of Knitwear Manufacturing and Technology, BGMEA University of Fashion and Technology (BUFT), Dhaka 1230, BangladeshDepartment of Knitwear Manufacturing and Technology, BGMEA University of Fashion and Technology (BUFT), Dhaka 1230, BangladeshDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), Dhaka 1216, BangladeshDepartment of Biobased Materials Science, Kyoto Institute of Technology (KIT), Matsugasaki Hashikamicho 1, Sakyoku, Kyoto 606-8585, JapanDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore 117575, SingaporeIncreasingly prevalent respiratory infectious diseases (e.g., COVID-19) have posed severe threats to public health. Viruses including coronavirus, influenza, and so on can cause respiratory infections. A pandemic may potentially emerge owing to the worldwide spread of the virus through persistent human-to-human transmission. However, transmission pathways may vary; respiratory droplets or airborne virus-carrying particles can have a key role in transmitting infections to humans. In conjunction with social distancing, hand cleanliness, and other preventative measures, the use of face masks is considered to be another scientific approach to combat ubiquitous coronavirus. Different types of face masks are produced using a range of materials (e.g., polypropylene, polyacrylonitrile, polycarbonate, polyurethane, polystyrene, polyester and polyethylene) and manufacturing techniques (woven, knitted, and non-woven) that provide different levels of protection to the users. However, the efficacy and proper disposal/management of the used face masks, particularly the ones made of non-biodegradable polymers, pose great environmental concerns. This review compiles the recent advancements of face masks, covering their requirements, materials and techniques used, efficacy, challenges, risks, and sustainability towards further enhancement of the quality and performance of face masks.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/14/7/1296coronavirusCOVID-19face maskpolymersustainability |
| spellingShingle | Md Zillur Rahman Md Enamul Hoque Md Rubel Alam Md Abdur Rouf Saiful Islam Khan Huaizhong Xu Seeram Ramakrishna Face Masks to Combat Coronavirus (COVID-19)—Processing, Roles, Requirements, Efficacy, Risk and Sustainability Polymers coronavirus COVID-19 face mask polymer sustainability |
| title | Face Masks to Combat Coronavirus (COVID-19)—Processing, Roles, Requirements, Efficacy, Risk and Sustainability |
| title_full | Face Masks to Combat Coronavirus (COVID-19)—Processing, Roles, Requirements, Efficacy, Risk and Sustainability |
| title_fullStr | Face Masks to Combat Coronavirus (COVID-19)—Processing, Roles, Requirements, Efficacy, Risk and Sustainability |
| title_full_unstemmed | Face Masks to Combat Coronavirus (COVID-19)—Processing, Roles, Requirements, Efficacy, Risk and Sustainability |
| title_short | Face Masks to Combat Coronavirus (COVID-19)—Processing, Roles, Requirements, Efficacy, Risk and Sustainability |
| title_sort | face masks to combat coronavirus covid 19 processing roles requirements efficacy risk and sustainability |
| topic | coronavirus COVID-19 face mask polymer sustainability |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/14/7/1296 |
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