H2020Индивидуална стипендия2021–2023

Popmask · Poplar Fiber Based Sustainable and Antibacterial Face Mask Filtration Media

„Хоризонт 2020“ — Действия „Мария Склодовска-Кюри“

Период: 2021-05-01 → 2023-04-30
Финансиране от ЕС: 183 473 €
Участници: 1
Схема: MSCA-IF

Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.

Накратко на български

Влакната от топола се изследват за създаване на филтриращи материали за хирургически маски и респиратори. Това помага за намаляване на пластмасовите отпадъци и зависимостта от полипропилена, като същевременно добавя антибактериални свойства към защитата.

Този кратък обзор е генериран от изкуствен интелект

Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.

Резултати накратко

Poplar Fiber Based Sustainable and Antibacterial Face Mask Filtration Media

The coronavirus pandemic has led to an increased demand for disposable face masks. The huge numbers of discarded masks not only result in an alarming accumulation of plastic in soil and aquatic ecosystems, but they also create a shortage on the polypropylene supply chain. Polypropylene is a petroleum-based polymer that is the main filtering medium used in masks, but it does not filter out bacteria. To tackle this issue, the Popmask project, which received funding by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, aimed to develop filtration media using sustainable and antibacterial poplar fibres that should effectively remove ultra-small particles such as the coronavirus itself. This project had 3 main technical pillars: (i) Creating wet laid webs from poplar fibers (ii) Developing a surgical mask (iii) Developing a filtering facepiece respirators that can effectively filter ultrafine particles. Poplar trees are very fast-growing trees and are grown on 76 million decares of land in the world. Poplar trees are used as raw materials for industrial products such as paper, cellulose pulp, and plywood. Although poplar trees are widely used in the industrial field, the fibers of these trees have never been used for industrial purposes before. Poplar fibers have hollow lumen and highly hydrophobic. In this study, wet-laid nonwovens with various weight densities were produced using poplar fibers. These webs were employed as filtration media in surgical mask.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз

Цел на проекта

Among top ten current N95 producers, only one of them is EU-origin company. Europe needs to act to develop sustainable face masks to lead the fabric filtration industry, which will be worth in excess of 2.7 billion Euros in 2024. Due to ongoing coronavirus pandemic, consuming billions of face masks around the globe resulted not only plastic pollution, but also created a shortage on the melt-blown polypropylene (PP) supply chain, which is the mainly used filtering medium. PP is a petroleum-based polymer and doesn’t have antibacterial activity. The ideal solution to this problem would be using a sustainable and antibacterial filtration media that can effectively filter ultra-small particles such as coronavirus itself. To address the challenge, I have formulated an innovative and interdisciplinary project based on my research experience to develop filtration media using sustainable and antibacterial poplar fibers that aligns with The European Green Deal action plan. After developing poplar webs, I will utilize Grado Zero Espace's (GZE), expertise to create commercial surgical masks and filtering facepiece respirators (FFP). The significance of developing Coronavirus-specific project is clearly emphasized in the European Research Area Corona Platform. Developing surgical masks and FFPs prototypes from a sustainable material not only contributes Sustainable Development Goal of EU, but also could lead higher-added value products, responding the global need for face masks in pandemic situations.

Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).

Участници

GRADO ZERO ESPACE SRL · Montelupo FiorentinoКоординаторИталия