[Paper Review] Design of a Self-powered Smart Mask for COVID-19

Barnali Ghatak, Shib Shankar Banerjee+5 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|May 17, 2020

Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting MaterialsEngineering17 references19 citations

TL;DR

This paper proposes a self-powered smart mask that integrates a textile triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) to enhance filtration of SARS-CoV-2-laden aerosols. By leveraging contact electrification and electrostatic induction from breathing and facial movements, the mask achieves effective bidirectional virus inactivation with optimized triboelectric charge densities up to 211.48 nC/m² using cotton-polyester fabric pairs.

ABSTRACT

Usage of a face mask has become mandatory in many countries after the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2, and its usefulness in combating the pandemic is a proven fact. There have been many advancements in the design of a face mask and the present treatise describes a face mask in which a simple textile triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) serves the purpose of filtration of SARS-CoV-2. The proposed mask is designed with multilayer protection sheets, in which the first two layers act as triboelectric (TE) filter and the outer one is a smart filter. The conjugated effect of contact electrification, and electrostatic induction of the proposed smart mask are effective in inactivating the span of virus-ladden aerosols in a bidirectional way. Five pairs of triboseries fabrics i.e. nylon - polyester, cotton - polyester, poly(methyl methacrylate) - PVDF, lylon - PVDF and polypropylene - polyester have been optimized in this study in terms of their effective tribo-electric charge densities as 83.13, 211.48, 38.62, 69 and 74.25 nC/m2, respectively. This smart mask can be used by a wide range of people because of its simple mechanism, self-driven (harvesting mechanical energy from daily activities, e.g. breathing, talking, or other facial movements functionalities, and effective filtration efficiency and thus, it is expected to be potentially beneficial to slow down the devastating impact of COVID-19.

Motivation & Objective

• To develop a self-powered face mask that actively inactivates SARS-CoV-2-laden aerosols without external power sources.
• To address limitations in conventional masks by integrating energy-harvesting and active filtration mechanisms.
• To optimize triboelectric materials for high charge density and effective virus filtration efficiency.
• To enable broad usability through mechanical energy harvesting from daily activities like breathing and talking.
• To provide a multilayered, smart filter system combining passive filtration with active electrostatic inactivation.

Proposed method

• Design of a multilayer mask with two triboelectric (TE) filter layers and one outer smart filter layer.
• Utilization of contact electrification and electrostatic induction via textile-based triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs).
• Selection and optimization of five fabric pairs (e.g., cotton-polyester, nylon-polyester) based on triboelectric series and charge density performance.
• Harvesting mechanical energy from respiratory motion and facial movements to power the electrostatic filtration mechanism.
• Implementation of a conjugated effect of contact electrification and electrostatic induction to inactivate airborne viruses bidirectionally.
• Measurement of triboelectric charge density across fabric pairs to identify optimal material combinations.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 Can a self-powered mask using TENGs effectively inactivate SARS-CoV-2-laden aerosols through mechanical energy harvesting?
• RQ2 Which fabric pairs generate the highest triboelectric charge density for optimal virus filtration efficiency?
• RQ3 How does the conjugated effect of contact electrification and electrostatic induction enhance bidirectional virus inactivation?
• RQ4 To what extent can the mask maintain high filtration performance using only energy from daily facial and respiratory movements?
• RQ5 Can the proposed design be practically scalable and usable across diverse populations without external power?

Key findings

• The cotton-polyester fabric pair achieved the highest triboelectric charge density of 211.48 nC/m², outperforming other tested pairs.
• The nylon-polyester pair showed a charge density of 83.13 nC/m², indicating strong potential for efficient energy harvesting.
• The poly(methyl methacrylate)-PVDF pair demonstrated a charge density of 38.62 nC/m², suitable for moderate performance applications.
• The lylon-PVDF and polypropylene-polyester pairs achieved charge densities of 69 nC/m² and 74.25 nC/m², respectively, showing consistent performance.
• The mask design enables self-powered operation by harvesting mechanical energy from breathing, talking, and facial movements.
• The conjugated mechanism of contact electrification and electrostatic induction enables effective bidirectional inactivation of virus-laden aerosols.