Better Kind of Face Mask: Researchers Develop

To combat infectious respiratory diseases and environmental pollution, Helen Cha, assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering at Rensselaer University and member of the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS), and Edmund Palermo, associate professor of materials science and engineering ) in collaboration with the Rensselaer Center for Materials, Devices and Integrated Systems (cMDIS).

According to a recent study published in Applied ACS Materials and Interfaces, researchers successfully grafted a broad-spectrum antimicrobial polymer onto polypropylene filters used in N95 masks.

"The active filter layer in N95 masks is very sensitive to chemical modification," Cha said. "That makes them perform worse at filtration, so they basically don't perform like N95 anymore. They're made of polypropylene, which is very difficult to chemically modify. Another challenge is that you don't want to damage the very fine particles in these masks. fibrous network, which may make it harder for them to breathe."