Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35264706›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2022

Unfolding the effects of decontamination treatments on the structural and functional integrity of N95 respirators via numerical simulations.

Sumit Sharma, Fang Wang, P V Kameswara Rao, Ashwini K Agrawal, Manjeet Jassal, Imre Szenti, Ákos Kukovecz, Amit Rawal, Ulf D Schiller

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
1.1field-weighted citation impact, top 23% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

Sumit SharmaDepartment of Textile and Fibre Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, India.
Fang WangDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Clemson University, 161 Sirrine Hall, Clemson, SC, 29634, USA.
P V Kameswara RaoDepartment of Textile and Fibre Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, India.
Ashwini K AgrawalDepartment of Textile and Fibre Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, India.
Manjeet JassalDepartment of Textile and Fibre Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, India.
Imre SzentiInterdisciplinary Excellence Centre, Department of Applied and Environmental Chemistry, University of Szeged, Rerrich Béla tér 1, Szeged, 6720, Hungary.
Ákos KukoveczInterdisciplinary Excellence Centre, Department of Applied and Environmental Chemistry, University of Szeged, Rerrich Béla tér 1, Szeged, 6720, Hungary.
Amit RawalDepartment of Textile and Fibre Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, India. arawal@iitd.ac.in.
Ulf D SchillerDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Clemson University, 161 Sirrine Hall, Clemson, SC, 29634, USA. uschill@clemson.edu.
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi · INClemson University · USUniversity of Szeged · HU

Funding

National Science Foundation (NSF) DMR-1944942National Science Foundation (NSF) OIA-1655740
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) provide effective protection against diseases spread through airborne infectious droplets and particles. The widespread use of FFRs during the COVID-19 pandemic has not only led to supply shortages, but the disposal of single-use facemasks also threatens the environment with a new kind of plastic pollution. While limited reuse of filtering facepiece respirators has been permitted as a crisis capacity strategy, there are currently no standard test methods available for decontamination before their repeated use. The decontamination of respirators can compromise the structural and functional integrity by reducing the filtration efficiency and breathability. Digital segmentation of X-ray microcomputed tomography (microCT) scans of the meltblown nonwoven layers of a specific N95 respirator model (Venus-4400) after treatment with one and five cycles of liquid hydrogen peroxide, ultraviolet radiation, moist heat, and aqueous soap solution enabled us to perform filtration simulations of decontaminated respirators. The computed filtration efficiencies for 0.3 µm particles agreed well with experimental measurements, and the distribution of particle penetration depths was correlated with the structural changes resulting from decontamination. The combination of X-ray microCT imaging with numerical simulations thus provides a strategy for quantitative evaluation of the effectiveness of decontamination treatments for a specific respirator model.

Indexed as

MasksCOVID-19DecontaminationDetergentsEquipment ReuseFiltrationHumansHydrogen PeroxideModels, TheoreticalSARS-CoV-2Ultraviolet RaysX-Ray MicrotomographyDetergentsHydrogen Peroxide

Identifiers

PMID35264706
PMCPMC8906365
OpenAlexW4220713507

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.