• Traditional disposable face masks suffer from low filtration efficiency for nano- and micro-sized particles and the limited-service life
• The invented hybrid air filter masks hold immense market potential targeting people all over the world
• Just taking HK as an example, the market value is estimated to be hundreds of millions of HK dollars

• High filtration efficiency for the particle size of 11.5 nm to 2.5 µm, with a 9.3–34.68% enhancement for particles of 0.3–2.5 µm, as compared to the current meltblown air filter used in the face masks
• Greatly extended service life of 48 h, with stable filtration efficiency of 94% for particles of 0.3–0.4 µm and 99% for particles of 1–2.5 µm
• A low pressure-drop of ~110 Pa (wind speed of 15 cm/s)
• 100% sterilization effect
• Easy to incorporate with the current manufacturing process

• Face masks
• Personal healthcare protective measures
• Indoor air quality control

(a) Schematically illustrates the tribo-charge enhanced hybrid air filter mask. (b) Comparison of hybrid air filters (different thicknesses) and pristine meltblown PP in terms of their filtration efficiency for different particle sizes with/without tribo-charges, and the responding pressure drop.
(c) 48-h long-term stable filtration efficiency of tribo-charge enhanced hybrid air filter for particle size of 0.3–0.4 µm and 1–2.5 µm and the pressure drop.
(d) Digital photos and SEM images of air filters before and after 48-h long-term stability test.

Others

P-2020-0997

Zi et al., Nano Energy, 2020

orkts.liaison@cuhk.edu.hk