Eco-friendly viral-filtering for facemasks

在冠状病毒爆发之前，塑料污染已经是我们星球面临的最大威胁之一。每日大量增加使用一次性塑料口罩以及其他形式的个人防护用品以保护人员安全和阻止疾病传播，这是不可持续的。每天都有大量报告显示，河岸和海滩上发现的个人防护装备数量大幅增加。目前，在你的家中散步时，不可能不看到某种形式的废弃塑料PPE污染环境。我们打算通过开发一种可持续的过滤材料来改变这种情况，这种材料可以有效地阻止比冠状病毒（60纳米）小的非常小的颗粒，从而有效地阻止病毒传播，并消除目前口罩对环境造成的损害。这种过滤材料将被整合到普通大众的口罩中。英国经济预计将萎缩35%，失去200万个工作岗位。在全国（和全世界）获得免疫接种之前，存在重大中断的重大风险，英国无法承受恢复封锁的后果。口罩是新的标准，但除了高端医用N95口罩外，没有其他过滤器被认为能有效阻止病毒。必须优先为一线医护人员提供高端口罩。我们的解决方案是使用由生物可降解聚合物（如纤维素）制成的环保纳米纤维制造过滤器。这些过滤器具有高度透气性，柔韧性，可用于插入天然纺织品，简单的口罩。这将大大提高布制口罩（即使是自制口罩）的防护效果，其效率取决于过滤器/面罩周围的贴合程度。这种纳米纤维还将通过工程化的科学设计来利用静电来捕获和容纳最小的纳米颗粒，并且可能在高污染地区或慢性呼吸系统疾病患者中得到进一步的应用。纳米纤维的生产是利用高电场从针尖上的溶液滴中抽出纤维（这个过程被称为静电纺丝），这是一个非常缓慢的过程，每天只能生产3个口罩的过滤器。由于静电屏蔽，使更多的针头承受不是一个线性过程，需要更高和更不安全的电压，并限制了可使用材料的选择。我们的创新是模块化解决方案，每个模块可将沉积速率提高1000 - 10000倍。在这个项目中，我们将开发原型生态友好型过滤材料，独立验证其用于病毒过滤，并转向消费过滤器和医疗过滤器的试点生产。

Plastic pollution was already one of the greatest threats to our planet before the coronavirus outbreak. The huge increase in the daily use of plastic disposable facemasks, along with other forms of PPE to keep people safe and stop the spread of disease, is not sustainable. Numerous reports are emerging everyday imaging and documenting the huge increase in PPE found on river banks and beaches. It is currently impossible to go for a walk from your home without seeing some form of discarded plastic PPE waste polluting the environment. We intend to change this by developing a sustainable filter material that is effective at stopping very small particles, smaller than the COV19 virus (60nm) and thus effectively stop virus transmission as well as eliminate the damage the current masks are doing to the environment. This filter material will be integrated into masks for the general public.The UK economy is forecast to shrink 35%, with 2 million jobs lost. Until immunisation becomes available nation-wide (and worldwide), there is a significant risk of major disruption and the UK cannot afford a return to lockdown. Face masks are the new norm, but, apart from the high-end medical N95 respirators, no other filters are rated to stop viruses effectively. The supply of high-end respirators must be prioritised for frontline medical staff.Our solution is to manufacture filters using eco-freindly nanofibres made from biodegradable polymers such as cellulose. These filters which are highly-breathable, flexible and can be used as inserts into natural textile, simple face masks. This will increase the protection of cloth masks (even home-made ones) significantly, with the efficiency then being ruled by the tightness of the fit around the filter/face. The nanofibres will also harness static electricity through engineered scientific design to trap and hold even the smallest of nanoparticles, and may be of further use in areas of high pollution or for people with chronic respiratory problems.Nanofibres are produced using a high electric field to pull a fibre out of a droplet of solution on the end of a needle (a process called electrospinning), a very slow process that would make filters for ~3 masks/day. Due to electrostatic shielding, bringing more needles to bear is not a linear process, requiring higher and more unsafe voltages, and limiting the choice of materials that can be used. Our innovation is a modular solution that increases deposition rates by 1000 - 10000 times per module.In this project, we will develop the prototype eco-friendly filter material, validate it independently for viral filtration and move to pilot production of a consumer and a medical filter.