Do Surface Charges on Polymeric Filters and Airborne Particles Control the Removal of Nanoscale Aerosols by Polymeric Facial Masks?

The emergence of facial masks as a critical health intervention to prevent the spread of airborne disease and protect from occupational nanomaterial exposure highlights the need for fundamental insights into the interaction of nanoparticles (<200 nm) with modern polymeric mask filter materials. While most research focuses on the filtration efficiency of airborne particles by facial masks based on pore sizes, pressure drop, or humidity, only a few studies focus on the importance of aerosol surface charge versus filter surface charge and their role in the net particle filtration efficiency of mask filters. In this study, experiments were conducted to assess mask filter filtration efficiency using positively and negatively charged polystyrene particles (150 nm) as challenge aerosols at varying humidity levels. Commercial masks with surface potential (Ψf ) in the range of -10 V to -800 V were measured by an electrostatic voltmeter and used for testing. Results show that the mask filtration efficiency is highly dependent on the mask surface potential as well as the charge on the challenge aerosol, ranging from 60% to 98%. Eliminating the surface charge results in a maximum 43% decrease in filtration efficiency, emphasizing the importance of electrostatic charge interactions during the particle capture process. Moreover, increased humidity can decrease the surface charge on filters, thereby decreasing the mask filtration efficiency. The knowledge gained from this study provides insight into the critical role of electrostatic attraction in nanoparticle capture mechanisms and benefits future occupational and environmental health studies.