[서울신문] A’mask filter’ that is easy to breathe and rotten in the ground

Chemicals, developed KF94 class that can be used multiple times
100% biodegradable within 28 days… Blocking environmental pollution

Provided by the Research Institute of Chemistry” style=”padding:0px;margin:0px”>

▲ Dr. Seongyeon Hwang, Jeyoung Park, and Dongyeop Oh (from left) of the Biochemistry Research Center of the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology are holding a’biodegradable mask filter and nano chitin solution’.
Provided by the Chemical Research Institute

As more and more masks are used and discarded due to Corona 19, it is emerging as a serious environmental pollution problem. Among these, domestic researchers have developed a high-performance mask filter that is 100% biodegradable, easy to breathe, and can be used multiple times.

On the 22nd, Hwang Seong-yeon, head of the Biochemical Materials Research Division, the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, announced on the 22 that it has developed a biodegradable mask filter with N95 performance that is not only 100% biodegradable within a month when discarded, it is easy to breathe and can be used multiple times. The results of these studies were published as the cover paper of the March issue of’Advanced Science’, an international academic journal in the field of basic science and engineering.

The research team pulled out nanofibers and microfibers from a biodegradable plastic called’polybutylene succinate’ (PBS) and made it into a nonwoven fabric. A new mask filter was created by coating a nonwoven fabric with chitosan nanoparticles called’chitosan nano whiskers’. This filter complements the drawbacks of existing mask filters by applying both methods of attaching foreign substances with the coating surface charge and filtering foreign substances like a sieve. This technology also used microfibers to widen the pores, making it easier to breathe.

According to the research team, the newly developed filter was confirmed to block up to 98.3% of fine particles of 2.5 μm (micrometer). This is the same filter performance as the commercially available N95 and KF94 masks. As a result of the experiment, it was also confirmed that the mask is 100% decomposed within 28 days in the soil when discarded after use.

Reporter Yoo Yong-ha [email protected]