I-Corps: Surface-ionized personal respiratory protection

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a face mask design that may positively impact multiple economic sectors and better the lives of about 14.4 million workers in the United States. These workers are employed in occupations where exposure to disease or infection occurs at least once per week. The need for improved and more comfortable respirators includes healthcare providers, firefighters, military medical personnel, and everyday citizens. This I-Corps project is based on the development of new masks to prevent exposure to disease and infection. The mask leverages electrohydrodynamic technology to create a novel air pressurizing device that surpasses other personal protection equipment in terms of size, weight, and comfortability, while maintaining a high filtration efficiency. The unique advantage of this design is that the mask filters out all particles in both exhaling and inhaling cycles without touching the skin of the wearer’s face. The filtering action takes place along the entire perimeter of the mask, a few millimeters away from the face. Particles and droplets present in the air are removed with electrostatic forces. A comfortable headband keeps the mask in place, and it matches the comfort of a well-fitted bicycle helmet. Since the innovation is designed to avoid contact with the wearer’s face, it eliminates bruising while feeling lighter (at about 454 grams). This technology has been shown to be more comfortable to wear than other personal protection equipment. With the addition of a clear face shield, this mask does not obstruct the face of the wearer and those who are hearing impaired can communicate through lip reading. Furthermore, the mask can be sterilized and is reusable, so as to reduce environmental waste. The successful adoption of the mask will improve lives across a variety of different sectors, including healthcare, and transportation.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.