Development of Non-Woven Fabrics from Bamboo/Polypropylene Fibres and its Application in Personal Protective Equipment-A Review.

Abstract

The important component of personal protective equipment is a mask. Mask is more important in a pandemic because it safeguards our life by stopping the spreading of the Coronavirus by entrapping the droplets from the corona affected person to enter into the wearer’s nose. Many types of masks are available such as non-woven mask, reusable mask, N95 mask and cloth mask etc. The majority of commercial masks are non-woven masks which are made up of polypropylene fibre. The main drawback of non-woven masks is their discomfort due to lack of breathability. This problem is solved by utilizing natural fibres as one of the raw material in non-woven and using them in the mask. Bamboo fibre is a natural celluloid fibre having good comfort properties with antimicrobial properties. Hence an attempt is made in this review article to examine the important properties of bamboo fibre and to evaluate its potential as a protective barrier material in non-woven face masks.