Bacteria filtered before they can enter the body
If you are prone to colds or throat infections from air-borne bacteria, before you leave home next time, why not pick up a mask to cover your mouth and nose to restrict bacteria that may cause an illness.
To protect people from bacterial diseases, Pakpoom Nawakitbum-rung, a Grade-12 student from Rajavinit Bangkhen School, has come up with a new kind of face mask which can filter and kill bacteria. To produce the mask he developed what he called a nano filter, to screen bacteria before they attack the body. He said the nano filter would be a key element to develop a new kind of mask that can not only protect people from dust and air pollution but also from colds and throat infections. Pakpoom used polystyrene, a kind of polymer which is in widespread use to produce lightweight plastic and foam, as a key material to produce the nano filter. "This kind of material is easy to find and importantly, offers suitable properties to produce nano fibre filtration," he said. He added production of the nano filter started from dissolving the polymer in solvent and then an electro-spinning process to turn the polymer into nano fibre. Electro-spinning is a process that uses high voltage to create an electrically charged jet of polymer solution or melt. Using high voltage to jet the polymer, once it dries and solidifies, it leaves polymer fibre. Pakpoom can produce nano fibre for filtration at 500 nanometres. However, at this size, he said it's not yet good enough to filter bacteria. He plans further development to downsize his nano fibre to only 10 nanometres. "I have to do more research to develop the electro-spinning process to make my fibre come out much finer," he said. Next, he plans to coat herbal medicine like Gotu Kola on the filter so that when a bacteria is captured it will be killed at once. "This will protect people from attack by bacteria and prevent illness," he said. However, coating herbal medicine on polymer is not that easy as the properties of the polymer itself make it difficult to cling to other substances. "So I have to find a new coating method to make the mask much more than just an air-screening mask," he said. The developer hopes that after the development is completed, when people wear this mask they will be protected from unwanted bacteria.
pongpen@nationgroup.com
Pongpen Sutharoj The Nation
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