Advanced face mask filters based on PCL electrospun meshes dopped with antimicrobial MgO and CuO nanoparticles

Ferreira, Carolina A. M.; Guerreiro, Sara F.C.; Valente, Joana F. A.; Patrício, Tatiana M.F.; Alves, Nuno; Mateus, Artur; Dias, Juliana R.

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.8/8364

Use this identifier to reference this record.

Name:	Description:	Size:	Format:
Ferreira et al_2022_polymers-14-03329-v2.pdf		3.79 MB	Adobe PDF	Download

Send Feedback

Authors

Ferreira, Carolina A. M.

Guerreiro, Sara F.C.

Valente, Joana F. A.

Patrício, Tatiana M.F.

Alves, Nuno

Mateus, Artur

Dias, Juliana R.

Abstract(s)

The pandemic situation caused by coronavirus clearly demonstrated the need for alternatives able to protect the respiratory tract and inactivate the infectious agents. Based on this, antibacterial face-mask filters of polycaprolactone (PCL) dopped with magnesium oxide (MgO) and copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles (NPs) were produced using an electrospinning technique. A morphological analysis of electrospun meshes evaluated the success of nanoparticles’ incorporation as well as the average fibers’ diameters (481 +- 272 nm). The performance of electrospun nanofibers was also assessed in terms of tensile strength (0.88 +- 0.25 MPa), water vapor permeability (11,178.66 +- 35.78 g.m-2.day-1), stability under wet conditions and antibacterial activity according to the standard guidelines. The filters showed structural stability up to 2 h of washing and improved antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) for optimized concentrations of MgO and CuO NPs. Overall, electrospun meshes with antibacterial activity were successfully developed for advanced filtering applications.

Description

This work is supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) through the following Projects: UIDB/04044/2020, UIDP/04044/2020. This study was also supported by PAMI-OTEIRO/0328/2013 (N 022158), MATIS (CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-000014-3362) and SpinningTNT (POCI-01-02B7-FEDER-069285). This work is also supported by the research grants 2021.04541.BD awarded to Carolina A. M. Ferreira and 2021.05893.BD awarded to Sara F. C. Guerreiro by FCT.

Keywords

Advanced mask filter Antimicrobial nanofibers Electrospun meshes Copper oxide nanoparticles Magnesium oxide nanoparticles

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.8/8364

Citation

Ferreira, C.A.M.; Guerreiro, S.F.C.; Valente, J.F.A.; Patrício, T.M.F.; Alves, N.; Mateus, A.; Dias, J.R. Advanced Face Mask Filters Based on PCL Electrospun Meshes Dopped with Antimicrobial MgO and CuO Nanoparticles. Polymers 2022, 14, 3329. https://doi.org/10.3390/ polym14163329