A critical lack of personal protective equipment has occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Polylactic acid (PLA), a polyester made from renewable natural resources, can be exploited for 3D printing of protective face masks using the Fused Deposition Modelling technique. Since the possible high porosity of this material raised questions regarding its suitability for protection against viruses, we have investigated its microstructure using scanning electron microscopy and aerosol generator and photometer certified as the test system according to the standards EN 143 and EN 149. Moreover, the efficiency of decontaminating PLA surfaces by conventional chemical disinfectants including 96% ethanol, 70% isopropanol, and a commercial disinfectant containing 0.85% sodium hypochlorite has been determined. We confirmed that the structure of PLA protective masks is compact and can be considered a sufficient barrier protection against particles of a size corresponding to microorganisms including viruses. Complete decontamination of PLA surfaces from externally applied Staphylococcus epidermidis, Escherichia coli, Candida albicans and SARS-CoV-2 was achieved using all disinfectants tested, and human adenovirus was completely inactivated by sodium hypochlorite-containing disinfectant. Natural contamination of PLA masks worn by test persons was decontaminated easily and efficiently by ethanol. No disinfectant caused major changes to the PLA surface properties, and the pore size did not change despite severe mechanical damage of the surface. Therefore, PLA may be regarded as a suitable material for 3D printing of protective masks during the current or future pandemic crises.
The current pandemic resulted in a rapidly increasing demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) initially leading to severe shortages of these items. Hence, during an unexpected and fast virus spread, the possibility of reusing highly efficient protective equipment could provide a viable solution for keeping both healthcare professionals and the general public equipped and protected. This requires an efficient decontamination technique that preserves functionality of the sensitive materials used for PPE production. Non-thermal plasma (NTP) is a decontamination technique with documented efficiency against select bacterial and fungal pathogens combined with low damage to exposed materials. We have investigated NTP for decontamination of high-efficiency P3 R filters from viral respiratory pathogens in comparison to other commonly used techniques. We show that NTP treatment completely inactivates SARS-CoV-2 and three other common human respiratory viruses including Influenza A, Rhinovirus and Adenovirus, revealing an efficiency comparable to 90°C dry heat or UVC light. Unlike some of the tested techniques (e.g., autoclaving), NTP neither influenced the filtering efficiency nor the microstructure of the filter. We demonstrate that NTP is a powerful and economic technology for efficient decontamination of protective filters and other sensitive materials from different respiratory pathogens.
A non-thermal plasma (NTP) is a promising tool against the development of bacterial, viral, and fungal diseases. The recently revealed development of microbial resistance to traditional drugs has increased interest in the use of NTPs. We have studied and compared the physical and microbicidal properties of two types of NTP sources based on a cometary discharge in the point-to-point electrode configuration and a corona discharge in the point-to-ring electrode configuration. The electrical and emission properties of both discharges are reported. The microbicidal effect of NTP sources was tested on three strains of the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus (including the methicillin-resistant strain), the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the yeast Candida albicans, and the micromycete Trichophyton interdigitale. In general, the cometary discharge is a less stable source of NTP and mostly forms smaller but more rapidly emerging inhibition zones on agar plates. Due to the point-to-ring electrode configuration, the second type of discharge has higher stability and provides larger affected but often not completely inhibited zones. However, after 60 min of exposure, the NTP sources based on the cometary and point-to-ring discharges showed a similar microbicidal effect for bacteria and an individual effect for microscopic fungi.
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