design of polymeric nanofiber gauze mask to prevent inhaling pm2.5 particles from haze pollution

Recently, PM2.5 (particulate matter with diameter of 2.5 micron or less) has become a major health hazard from the polluted air in many cities in China. The regular gauze masks are used to prevent inhaling the PM2.5 fine particles; however, those masks are not able to filter out the PM2.5 because of the large porosity of the mask materials. Some well-prevented masks usually have poor breathability, which increases other health risks. In this study, a polysulfone based nanofiber for mask filtration material was synthesized by electrospinning. That nanofiber mask material was characterized by SEM, air permeability test, and PM2.5 trapping experiment. The results indicate that nanofiber mask material can efficiently filter out the PM2.5 particles and simultaneously preserve a good breathability. We attribute such improvement to the nanoscaled fibers, having the same porosity as that of regular gauze mask but with extremely reduced local interfiber space.