ArticleScience advances2021
On secondary atomization and blockage of surrogate cough droplets in single- and multilayer face masks.
Article in Science advances, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 71 citations in OpenAlex.
- Droplet impact dynamics on stretched textiles.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Efficacy of facemasks in preventing transmission of COVID-19 in non-healthcare settings: A scoping review.Journal of infection prevention · 2024Article
- Heterogeneous-Nucleation Biosensor for Long-Term Collection and Mask-Based Self-Detection of SARS-CoV-2.Biosensors · 2023Article
- Development and evaluation of a fluidic facemask for airborne transmission mitigation.Experimental thermal and fluid science · 2023Review
- Effects of surgical masks on aerosol dispersion in professional singing.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2022Article
- Fibrous aggregates: Amplifying aggregation-induced emission to boost health protection.Biomaterials · 2022Article
- Evaluation of Respiratory Particle Emission during Otorhinolaryngological Procedures in the Context of the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Face Masks to Combat Coronavirus (COVID-19)-Processing, Roles, Requirements, Efficacy, Risk and Sustainability.Polymers · 2022Review
- Lessons from the health policies for children during the pandemic in Japan.Frontiers in public health · 2022Review
- Double Face Mask Use for COVID-19 Infection Prevention and Control Among Medical Students at Makerere University: A Cross-Section Survey.Risk management and healthcare policy · 2022Article
- Spatiotemporal droplet dispersion measurements demonstrate face masks reduce risks from singing.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Evaluating a transparent coating on a face shield for repelling airborne respiratory droplets.Physics of fluids (Woodbury, N.Y. : 1994) · 2021Article
- Two-dimensional mathematical framework for evaporation dynamics of respiratory droplets.Physics of fluids (Woodbury, N.Y. : 1994) · 2021Article
- Efficacy of homemade face masks against human coughs: Insights on penetration, atomization, and aerosolization of cough droplets.Physics of fluids (Woodbury, N.Y. : 1994) · 2021Article
- An opinion on the multiscale nature of Covid-19 type disease spread.Current opinion in colloid & interface science · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Face masks prevent transmission of infectious respiratory diseases by blocking large droplets and aerosols during exhalation or inhalation. While three-layer masks are generally advised, many commonly available or makeshift masks contain single or double layers. Using carefully designed experiments involving high-speed imaging along with physics-based analysis, we show that high-momentum, large-sized (>250 micrometer) surrogate cough droplets can penetrate single- or double-layer mask material to a significant extent. The penetrated droplets can atomize into numerous much smaller (<100 micrometer) droplets, which could remain airborne for a significant time. The possibility of secondary atomization of high-momentum cough droplets by hydrodynamic focusing and extrusion through the microscale pores in the fibrous network of the single/double-layer mask material needs to be considered in determining mask efficacy. Three-layer masks can effectively block these droplets and thus could be ubiquitously used as a key tool against COVID-19 or similar respiratory diseases.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.