ELECTROSTATIC LAYER PLACEMENT AND AEROSOL FILTRATION IN N95 RESPIRATORS
Abstract
The efficiency of N95 respirators is determined by a combination of mechanical filtration mechanisms and electrostatic particle capture. Although the filtration properties of individual mask materials have been widely studied, the influence of layer positioning within multilayer respirator structures remains insufficiently explored. This study experimentally investigates how the relative position of the electrostatic filtration layer affects particle penetration efficiency in multilayer N95 respirator configurations.
Several filter configurations were reconstructed by rearranging mechanical and electrostatic filtration layers, and aerosol particles were passed through each configuration under controlled laboratory conditions.
The results demonstrate that filtration efficiency strongly depends on the sequence of filtration layers, with the highest performance observed when the electrostatic layer is positioned downstream of the primary mechanical filtration layer. These findings improve the understanding of multilayer filtration dynamics and provide practical insights for respirator design and aerosol control.
Author affiliations
- Solomiia Cherednikova: Bard College, USA; University of Miami, USA; Kyung Hee University, REPUBLIC OF KOREA; ORCID
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