Dr. Seshadri Ramkumar
Dr. Seshadri Ramkumar is a full professor of advanced textiles at Texas Tech University, USA. His research interest lies in the development of value-added textiles for advanced applications like PPE, and oil spill remediation. Since December 1999 he has been playing major role in building the technical textiles sector in India and developing U.S.-India relationships in nonwovens and technical textiles sector. He is recognized with, "Lifetime Technical Achievement Award, given by the USA-based Association of Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA). He is awarded the Honorary Membership and Honorary Fellowship of world's largest textiles field's professional association, Textile Association (India). He writes a column called "TexSnips," which gets distributes to over 2000 people all over the world.
December 3, 2024
09:20am - 09:35am EST
Novel Filters for Personnel Protection
The recent COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing air pollution and forest fire situations in cities like New Delhi, and states like California necessitate the need for continuous development of barrier materials. While facepiece respirators like N95 and R95 are golden standards for protection against toxic aerosol and droplets, there are opportunities for filters that could provide improved filtration and comfort for protection against particles that range between 0.1 to 0.3 microns.
We present in this study a new face mask design that lends itself to the use of different core filters while providing next to skin comfort. Results using activated carbon, and wetlaid glass fiber filter as filter inserts in a comfortable face mask design will be presented. We characterize the result in terms of percentage penetration as it is more relevant to objectively quantifying the barrier protection capability of face masks. We are advocating such face masks as a necessary PPE in “One Health,” programs.
Professor
Texas Tech University, US