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Is it Possible to Mechanical Recycle the Materials of the Disposable Filtering Masks?

In a singular period, such as during a pandemic, the use of personal protective masks can become mandatory for all citizens in many places worldwide. The most used device is the disposable mask that, inevitably, generates a substantial waste flow to send to incineration or landfill. The article exam...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Battegazzore, Daniele, Cravero, Fulvia, Frache, Alberto
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7698554/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33213008
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/polym12112726
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author Battegazzore, Daniele
Cravero, Fulvia
Frache, Alberto
author_facet Battegazzore, Daniele
Cravero, Fulvia
Frache, Alberto
author_sort Battegazzore, Daniele
collection PubMed
description In a singular period, such as during a pandemic, the use of personal protective masks can become mandatory for all citizens in many places worldwide. The most used device is the disposable mask that, inevitably, generates a substantial waste flow to send to incineration or landfill. The article examines the most diffused type of disposable face mask and identifies the characteristic of the constituent materials through morphological, chemical, physical, and thermal analyses. Based on these investigations, a mechanical recycling protocol with different approaches is proposed. Advantages and disadvantages of the different recycling solutions are discussed with considerations on necessary separation processes and other treatments. The four solutions investigated lead to a recycling index from 78 to 91% of the starting disposable mask weight. The rheological, mechanical, and thermo-mechanical properties of the final materials obtained from the different recycling approaches are compared with each other and with solutions present on the market resulting in materials potentially industrially exploitable.
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spelling pubmed-76985542020-11-29 Is it Possible to Mechanical Recycle the Materials of the Disposable Filtering Masks? Battegazzore, Daniele Cravero, Fulvia Frache, Alberto Polymers (Basel) Article In a singular period, such as during a pandemic, the use of personal protective masks can become mandatory for all citizens in many places worldwide. The most used device is the disposable mask that, inevitably, generates a substantial waste flow to send to incineration or landfill. The article examines the most diffused type of disposable face mask and identifies the characteristic of the constituent materials through morphological, chemical, physical, and thermal analyses. Based on these investigations, a mechanical recycling protocol with different approaches is proposed. Advantages and disadvantages of the different recycling solutions are discussed with considerations on necessary separation processes and other treatments. The four solutions investigated lead to a recycling index from 78 to 91% of the starting disposable mask weight. The rheological, mechanical, and thermo-mechanical properties of the final materials obtained from the different recycling approaches are compared with each other and with solutions present on the market resulting in materials potentially industrially exploitable. MDPI 2020-11-17 /pmc/articles/PMC7698554/ /pubmed/33213008 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/polym12112726 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Battegazzore, Daniele
Cravero, Fulvia
Frache, Alberto
Is it Possible to Mechanical Recycle the Materials of the Disposable Filtering Masks?
title Is it Possible to Mechanical Recycle the Materials of the Disposable Filtering Masks?
title_full Is it Possible to Mechanical Recycle the Materials of the Disposable Filtering Masks?
title_fullStr Is it Possible to Mechanical Recycle the Materials of the Disposable Filtering Masks?
title_full_unstemmed Is it Possible to Mechanical Recycle the Materials of the Disposable Filtering Masks?
title_short Is it Possible to Mechanical Recycle the Materials of the Disposable Filtering Masks?
title_sort is it possible to mechanical recycle the materials of the disposable filtering masks?
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7698554/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33213008
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/polym12112726
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