Russia creates filter to protect respiratory organs

Russian scientists have created a perfect filter for the protection of respiratory organs and other purposes.

Weighing only 10-20 mg/m2, the fabric made of nylon nanofibers allows 95 percent light transmission and shows low resistance to airflow and efficient interception of less than 1 micrometre fine particulate matter.

The team of scientists from the Russian Academy of Sciences, whose work was published in Macromolecular Nanotechnology, used the technique called electrospinning to create this filter.

The process involved ejecting jet of a dissolved polymer through a special nozzle aiming at a target of an electric field.

The polymer jet and the alcohol ions take the opposite electric charges. Colliding in the air, they form ultra-thin fibrous films.

The testing of the electrospun films showed that these almost weightless and invisible fabrics trap no less than 98 percent of airborne dust particles.

In terms of interception extent to filter weight ratio and interception-resistance to airflow ratio, the new filtering material beats any existing equivalents several times.

The scientists claim that their possible applications go beyond air and water purification from particulate matter. Since, the material surpasses glass in transparency, it can also be used in biological research.