3D Printed and Electrospun, Transparent, Hierarchical Polylactic Acid Mask Nanoporous Filter

Haijun He; Min Gao; Balázs Illés; Kolos Molnar

doi:10.18063/ijb.v6i4.278

3D Printed and Electrospun, Transparent, Hierarchical Polylactic Acid Mask Nanoporous Filter

Int J Bioprint. 2020 Jul 1;6(4):278. doi: 10.18063/ijb.v6i4.278. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Haijun He¹, Min Gao², Balázs Illés³, Kolos Molnar^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Polymer Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Műegyetem rkp. 3-9, H-1111, Budapest, Hungary.
² Department of Mechatronics, Optics and Engineering Informatics, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Műegyetem rkp. 3-9, H-1111, Budapest, Hungary.
³ Department of Electronics Technology, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Műegyetem rkp. 3-9, H-1111, Budapest, Hungary.
⁴ MTA-BME Research Group for Composite Science and Technology, Műegyetem rkp. 3, H-1111, Budapest, Hungary.

Abstract

Face masks are becoming one of the most useful personal protective equipment with the outbreak of the coronavirus (CoV) pandemic. The entire world is experiencing shortage of disposable masks and melt-blown non-woven fabrics, which is the raw material of the mask filter. Recyclability of the discarded mask is also becoming a big challenge for the environment. Here, we introduce a facile method based on electrospinning and three-dimensional printing to make changeable and biodegradable mask filters. We printed polylactic acid (PLA) polymer struts on a PLA nanofiber web to fabricate a nanoporous filter with a hierarchical structure and transparent look. The transparent look overcomes the threatening appearance of the masks that can be a feasible way of reducing the social trauma caused by the current CoV disease-19 pandemic. In this study, we investigated the effects of nozzle temperature on the optical, mechanical, and morphological and filtration properties of the nanoporous filter.

Keywords: Coronavirus disease-19; Electrospinning; Mask nanoporous filter; Nanofibers; Three-dimensional printing.