[TheForge] Copper vs. coronavirus

[Bruce .]

Walter,

You're forgetting that a cotton mask is not so much a sieve as it is a
depth filter.  A depth filter typically has "pores" larger than the
materials it can effectively filter out. They are *not* 100% efficient.

If a water droplet containing the virus touches a cotton fiber, the water
likely will attach to the fiber by strong hydrophilic interaction, the
virus with it.  (Cotton sticks to water and vise versa.)

I don't want to over-hype the copper idea, but the thought was, were there
copper ions on the cotton fiber, they might destroy the virus more quickly
than cotton alone.  I have no evidence for this.

As to beards.  Yes, that's a problem.  I wear a bandana lined with paper
toweling and tissue as a mask, a variant on one I've read about.  The
bandana hangs well below my chin.  I'm betting the air I breathe will pas
through the bandana and papers, rather than following the tortuous path
*around* the bandana.  Again, I have no evidence for this except my own
observation that the air *does seem* to be passing through the mask.

The complete solution to the beard problem, aside from shaving, is a
supplied-air mask.  This could fit over the entire face, including the
eyes, and would fit snugly, but not hermetically.  Hanging from your belt
is an air pump that pushes air through an appropriate filter and into the
mask.  Low tech, but does require power and could be bulky (but not
necessarily so -- the mask could be as simple as a disposable plastic bag
mounted on a face-fitting frame).  Pumped air could pass first through a
depth filter (low backpressure and significant filtering ability) and then
through a porous filter to screen out, potentially, all the virus.  I can't
attest to the feasibility of this.

Bruce
NJ


On Fri, Mar 27, 2020 at 12:44 PM Walter <wmullett22 at gmail.com> wrote:

> This is an interesting thread.
>
> Regarding face masks.  The hand sewn face masks that volunteers are
> making are worthless in protecting the user from the virus because a
> virus is so small that it goes through the openings. The N95 mask works
> because the mesh in it is super fine. It also has to seal against the
> face so beards should be shaved to use them. (Not too good for many of
> we smiths.)
>
> Therefore, copper ions in the fabric is probably not a solution.
>
> Stay safe so stay at home.