- Advertisement -
Tuesday, June 6, 2023
Home Sustainable Fashion Disposable medical face masks beat cotton/polyester masks

Disposable medical face masks beat cotton/polyester masks

In the COVID-19 pandemic, the world witnessed many types of DIY homemade face masks from cotton or polyester fabric. Tough their effectivity against the airborne droplets. But recently, Fugaku Japanese supercomputer ran simulations involving multiple types of masks.

Fugaku-supercomputer-face-mask-simulation
Figure: Japan’s Fugaku supercomputer. Courtesy: Jiji Press/AFP/Getty Images

Fugaku found that nonwoven disposable face masks, i.e. the blue medical masks everyone wearing, are more effective at stalling droplets released when a user coughs compared to woven masks made from cotton or polyester.

Disposable surgical masks are made from polypropylene and are comparatively cheap to make in large numbers. Woven masks, including those used in the Fugaku simulation, are usually made from fabrics such as cotton, and appeared in some countries after non-woven versions were temporarily in short supply.

The outcomes of Fugaku’s research were announced on Aug. 25 by the Rikken Institute, which is a Japanese-government research establishment.

The team behind the tests revealed that ‘nonwoven masks blocked nearly all droplets emitted in a cough,’ Nikkei Asian Review reports.

Though, the cloth and polyester woven masks stopped around 80 percent of particles, ‘making them effective at slowing the spread of the coronavirus’ as well, according to the website.

Related News

Functional Fashion Issue 04 week 10

 Download now  

Boohoo launches first pop-up shop in London to showcase new arrivals

Fashion retailer Boohoo has announced the opening of its very first pop-up store in Central London on Great Portland Street. The store opened on March...

Sweden and Indian researchers create new technology to purify tainted water

Researchers from Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur in India and Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have created a new technique that quickly...

NC State separates mixed cotton from polyester by using enzymes in US

A team at North Carolina State University (NC State) has developed an enzyme-based method for separating mixed cotton and polyester fabric in the US....

H&M donates books and dressmaker mannequins to CIEOSH and BUFT

H&M Group, a multinational clothing giant, contributed books and dressmaker mannequins to the BGMEA Centre of Innovation, Efficiency and Occupational Safety and Health (CIEOSH)...

More like this

Functional Fashion Issue 04 week 10

0
 Download now  
Boohoo launches first pop-up shop in London to showcase new arrivals

Boohoo launches first pop-up shop in London to showcase new arrivals

0
Fashion retailer Boohoo has announced the opening of its very first pop-up store in Central London on Great Portland Street. The store opened on March...
Sweden and Indian researchers create new technology to purify tainted water

Sweden and Indian researchers create new technology to purify tainted water

0
Researchers from Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur in India and Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have created a new technique that quickly...
Blended cotton polyester

NC State separates mixed cotton from polyester by using enzymes in US

0
A team at North Carolina State University (NC State) has developed an enzyme-based method for separating mixed cotton and polyester fabric in the US....
H&M donates books and dressmaker mannequins to CIEOSH and BUFT

H&M donates books and dressmaker mannequins to CIEOSH and BUFT

0
H&M Group, a multinational clothing giant, contributed books and dressmaker mannequins to the BGMEA Centre of Innovation, Efficiency and Occupational Safety and Health (CIEOSH)...
- Advertisement -