Can protective masks be used repeatedly? Are you afraid of washing? A breakthrough in this research in China!

As the global pandemic of the new crown pneumonia epidemic becomes increasingly severe, and a number of studies have confirmed the importance of wearing masks for the prevention and control of the epidemic, especially for asymptomatic infections. At present, internationally, whether to wear a mask or not to wear a mask is no longer a multiple choice question.

In China, scientific and technological personnel through continuous scientific research, reusable civilian mask materials, new graphene masks and other related research, have recently obtained important key technological breakthroughs, which will serve the epidemic prevention and control and play a role in population health protection.

Latest research: Masks may prevent the spread of seasonal coronavirus

"Nature-Medical" published a research paper on the 3rd. The corresponding author is Professor Benjamin Cowling, co-director of the World Health Organization's Infectious Disease and Epidemiological Control Collaboration Center of the School of Public Health of the University of Hong Kong. The research team recruited 246 suspected respiratory infections. The subjects of the virus were asked to breathe into the special machine used for the research, and then compared the relative content of the virus in the air exhaled with and without a mask. It was found that in 111 subjects who had been confirmed to be infected with coronavirus, influenza virus or rhinovirus, masks reduced the detectable amount of influenza virus in respiratory droplets and the detectable amount of seasonal coronavirus in aerosols, but none Reduce the detectable amount of rhinovirus.

The new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and seasonal coronaviruses are closely related and may have similar particle sizes. Therefore, the research team believes that surgical masks can reduce seasonal coronaviruses in respiratory droplets and aerosols, suggesting that wearing such masks for people infected with the new coronavirus can help slow the spread of the virus.

"Nature" published on the 1st the preliminary results of a study by German medical experts on confirmed cases of new coronavirus infections, showing that the new coronavirus replicates in the upper respiratory tract of patients more actively, in the early stage when the patient's symptoms are still mild, that is, within the first week after the symptoms appear , The new coronavirus has the strongest ability to excrete the virus in the upper respiratory tract. Experts said that this research result also means that curbing the spread of the new crown virus mainly depends on controlling the spread of droplets, and wearing a mask can play an effective role in this.

Academician Gao Fu, director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, also clearly pointed out in an earlier interview with Science that droplets play a very important role in the spread of the new crown virus. Therefore, it is necessary to wear masks. The biggest mistake in the United States and Europe in the fight against the epidemic is People are not wearing masks.

Breakthrough in key technologies for reusable civilian mask materials

According to news from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, in early February, in response to the problem of repeated use of masks during emergency periods, Academician Chen Jianfeng of Beijing University of Chemical Technology organized and led the team of the State Key Laboratory of Organic and Inorganic Composite Materials of Beijing University of Chemical Technology to initiate emergency scientific research and carry out "mask charged regeneration. Reuse technology" research.

At the end of February, the "Key Technologies and Industrialization of Reusable Protective Masks" project was approved. Academician Chen Jianfeng was the project chief, and Professor Zhang Liqun was the project technical chief.

According to the latest news from Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Zhang Liqun’s team and multiple scientific research teams inside and outside the school have made breakthroughs in key technologies for reusable civilian mask materials. The team has developed a high-load charge/high antistatic attenuation, antibacterial , Anti-aging three-in-one new material, and also a melt-blown fiber material based on polypropylene matrix.

After more than a month, each person wears a voluntary mask for 8 hours a day. It shows that the meltblown fiber cloth made of new materials has a high barrier rate to bacteria and viruses, has a high level of antibacterial performance, and has anti-aging performance. It's also very good. The material mask is continuously and completely soaked in water above 60°C for 30 minutes, and can be used again after drying or drying. If you wear it for 8 hours a day, the new material mask can be used for at least 3 days (3 days is recommended), which is equivalent to a 3-6 times longer life of traditional disposable masks.

At present, the new material has trial-produced more than one million high-performance reusable masks in batches. In April, 10 million masks will be provided to help the capital fight the epidemic and resume production.

Graphene mask research and development completes the leap from technology to product

China Aero Engine Corporation (China Aviation Development) recently revealed that its Aeronautical Materials Research Institute has successfully developed a new type of graphene mask with stronger antibacterial properties, better air permeability, and longer use time. Among them, in terms of use time, the use time of the new graphene mask is more than 48 hours, which is more than 12 times that of the traditional mask, and the filtration efficiency of the new graphene mask is only reduced by 4% after 48 hours of continuous wear.

Graphene is a two-dimensional multifunctional nanomaterial composed of a single layer of carbon atoms. Graphene and its derivatives have excellent broad-spectrum antibacterial and antiviral capabilities, good biocompatibility, and simple preparation process. Graphene mask is a new type of protective mask formed by the innovative application of a new type of graphene polypropylene meltblown cloth material in the key filter layer between the spunbond non-woven fabrics that constitute ordinary masks.

Since the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the China Aviation Development and Aviation Materials Institute quickly used the advantages of material technology to start the research and development of new graphene masks, and built a graphene PP pellet production line, a new graphene antibacterial meltblown cloth production line and a new graphene mask in a short time. The pilot production line has opened up the application chain of graphene in the fields of biomedical protection and environmental purification, completing the rapid leap from technology to product.

In the future, the China Aviation Development and Aviation Materials Institute will actively carry out upstream and downstream industrial cooperation to accelerate the introduction of new graphene masks to the medical field.