Fabrication of Silver Nanoparticles-deposited Fabrics as A Potential Candidate for The Development of Reusable Facemask and Evaluation of Their Performance

Recently, wearing facemasks in public has been raised due to the coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic worldwide. However, the performance and effectiveness of many existing products have raised significant concerns among people and professionals. In this respect, doping or impregnating facemask fabrics with metallic substances or nanoparticles like silver nanoparticles has been proposed. Therefore, in the present study, we aimed to sonochemically deposit silver nanoparticles on the non-woven Spunbond substrates at different sonication times and concentrations to develop reusable antibacterial and antiviral facemask for protection against coronavirus. The coated substrates were characterized in terms of morphological, mechanical, and functional characteristics. The results confirmed high and uniform deposition of silver nanoparticles on Spunbond fabrics with desirable stability and mechanical properties. Evaluation of functional characteristics of the resultant fabrics showed suitable particle filtration efficiency, pressure drop, and electrical conductivity, which are essential elements for a desired facemask with enhanced protection and support of normal breath. The prepared fabrics also showed high antibacterial activity against E. coli and S. aureus bacteria without any significant cytotoxicity effect toward HEK 293 cells and brine shrimp.