Does it taste like cotton candy though? Jokes aside, this is a really cool creation and it recycles plastic too!
Despite some stubborn people in the world that think wearing a face mask is an impediment to their civil rights (cough, cough, America, cough), the wearing of face masks in public has been proven to have reduced the spread of Covid-19.
Unfortunately however, some types of face masks are not that effective in protecting its wearer. Cloth masks for example are not as effective, as say a surgical mask. In fact, research has shown that the best mask to wear in terms of protection against Covid-19 is an N95 respirator face mask.
N95 face masks has electro-charged filters that attract and hold viruses, preventing them from passing through. One caveat about N95 face mask though is that its damn expensive for something disposable. Thankfully, someone has figured out a cheap way to create N95-type face masks!
As reported by Phys.org, Mahesh Bandi, a physicist at the Nonlinear and Non-equilibrium Physics Unit of OIST Graduate University in Okinawa found a way to produce N95-type face masks using a cotton candy machine. Woah!
Professor Mahesh Bandi of OIST, Okinawa.
His research on the matter was published in the journal Proceeding of the Royal Society. Mahesh found a technique whereby ordinary plastics such as bottles or shipping bags are heated and then put into an ordinary cotton candy machine. The machine will then spin the plastic into a material that is similar to cotton candy, but don’t go and eat it okay!
For illustrative purposes | A cotton candy machine.
Due to the spinning, the material will be electrocharged hence would have the same effect as N95 face masks. The resulting mesh would then be cut into small squares and then put close to the vent of a common air ioniser to bolster their electrostatic charge.
The cut pieces would then be placed inside a special 3D printed mask as a filter. Mahesh has done rigorous testing on the filter and found that it is as effective at preventing inhalation of Covid-19 viruses as a standard N95-type respirators.
For illustrative purposes | An N95 respirator face mask.
Awesome! Let’s hope that this would make way for cheaper and more environmentally-friendly N95-type face masks.
Also read: Two Men Caught Loading Unpackaged Roti Bengali in Penang Without Using Gloves Or Face Masks
