High Flow, Extended-Wear Respirators for Ambient Particulate Matter Protection

This SBIR Phase I proposal proposes to design, develop, and produce high performance air filter media with low pressure drop and longer life for dust mask application. Non-woven composite filter media with macro and nanofiber will be produced to obtain design specifications. Fiber size, packing density, porosity, and mass density of the material will be controlled to tailor the properties of the filter media. The filter media will be characterized for its filtration and mechanical performance for optimization leading to manufacturing of dust mask. The proposed technology is expected to enhance the protection level with comfort while providing longer life mask.