Eco-friendly viral-filtering for facemasks

在冠状病毒爆发之前，塑料污染已经是对我们星球的最大威胁之一。塑料一次性口罩以及其他形式的个人防护用品的日常使用大幅增加，以确保人们的安全和阻止疾病的传播，这是不可持续的。大量的日常成像和记录报告正在涌现，这些报告记录了在河岸和海滩上发现的个人防护装备的大幅增加。目前，出门散步都会看到某种形式的废弃塑料个人防护用品污染环境。我们打算通过开发一种可持续的过滤材料来改变这一点，这种材料可以有效地阻止非常小的颗粒，小于COV19病毒(60 Nm)，从而有效地阻止病毒传播，并消除目前口罩对环境造成的破坏。这种过滤材料将集成到普通民众的口罩中。英国经济预计将收缩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，英国承担不起恢复封锁的代价。口罩是新的标准，但除了高端医用N95呼吸器外，没有其他过滤器可以有效地阻止病毒。高端呼吸器的供应必须优先考虑一线医务人员。我们的解决方案是使用由可生物降解的聚合物(如纤维素)制成的环保纳米纤维制造过滤器。这些滤镜具有高度透气性、柔韧性，可用作天然纺织品的嵌入物，简单的面膜。这将显著增加对布质口罩(即使是国产口罩)的保护，其效率取决于过滤器/面孔周围的紧密性。纳米纤维还将通过工程设计的科学设计利用静电来捕获和容纳即使是最小的纳米颗粒，并可能进一步用于高污染地区或患有慢性呼吸系统问题的人。纳米纤维是使用高压电场从针头的一滴溶液中拉出纤维(称为静电纺丝)，这是一个非常慢的过程，每天需要制作大约3个口罩。由于静电屏蔽，使更多的针承受不是一个线性过程，需要更高和更不安全的电压，并限制了可以使用的材料的选择。我们的创新是一种模块化解决方案，使每个模块的沉积速度提高1000-10000倍。在这个项目中，我们将开发生态友好型过滤材料的原型，对病毒过滤进行独立验证，并进入消费者和医疗过滤器的中试生产。

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.