Highly Transparent Nanofibrous Membranes Used as Transparent Masks for Efficient PM_0.3 Removal

Abstract

Currently, the quest for highly transparent and flexible fibrous membranes with robust mechanical characteristics, high breathability, and good filtration performance is rapidly rising because of their potential use in the fields of electronics, energy, environment, medical, and health. However, it is still an extremely challenging task to realize transparent fibrous membranes due to serious surface light reflection and internal light scattering. Here, we report the design and development of a simple and effective topological structure to create porous, breathable, and high visible light transmitting fibrous membranes (HLTFMs). The resultant HLTFMs exhibit good optical performance (up to 90% transmittance) and high porosities (>80%). The formation of such useful structure with high light transmittance has been revealed by electric field simulation, and the mechanism of fibrous membrane structure to achieve high light transmittance has been proposed. Moreover, transparent masks have been prepared to evaluate the filtration performance and analyze their feasibility to meet requirement of facial recognition systems. The prepared masks display high transparency (>80%), low pressure drop (<100 Pa) and high filtration efficiency (>90%). Furthermore, the person wearing this mask can be successfully identified by facial recognition systems. Therefore, this work provides an idea for the development of transparent, breathable, and high-performance fibrous membranes.

Polylactic Acid (PLA) Melt-Blown Nonwovens with Superior Mechanical Properties

“…Notably, the average diameter of the fiber can be increased simply by increasing the extrusion rate. The reasonable ratio of coarse fiber and thin fiber could adjust the structure, mechanical properties, and functions of PLA melt-blown nonwovens. − …”

Electrical Signal Initiates Kinetic Assembly of Collagen to Construct Optically Transparent and Geometry Customized Artificial Cornea Substitutes

“…TSA-Col has a loose and random organization of microscaled fibers, which are composed of nanoscaled fibril units (∼50 nm in diameter, and red circles indicate fibrils that are aligned perpendicular to the cross-section). Presumably, the notable difference in optics between KEA-Col and TSA-Col is closely related to their different microstructure (e.g., the thickness of fibrils and their organization), and the kinetic electro-assembly for collagen yields such microstructures with fibrils on the nanoscale and are highly packaged such that potentially there is low light scattering. − …”

Self‐Healing Fibrous Membranes

“…Compared with dense film materials, functional fibrous membranes may be regarded to be superior, because they are breathable, [19] washable, [20] and highly porous, [21] and can easily be modified [22] . Therefore, such fibrous membranes have attracted wide attention in the past few years and massive advances in their development have been achieved recently.…”