Structure, Morphology, and Surface Chemistry of Surgical Masks and Their Evolution Up to 10 Washing Cycles

The Covid-19 crisis has led to a massive surge in the use of surgical masks worldwide, causing risks of shortages and high pollution. Various decontamination techniques are currently being studied to reduce these risks by allowing the reuse of masks. In this study, surgical masks were washed up to 10 times, each cycle under the same conditions. The consequences of the washing cycles on the structure, fiber morphology, and surface chemistry have been studied through several characterization techniques: scanning electron microscopy, wetting angle measurements, infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectrons spectroscopy. The washing process did not induce large changes in the hydrophobicity of the surface, the contact angle remaining constant throughout the cycles. The composition observed in the IR spectrum also remained unchanged for washed masks up to 10 cycles. Some slight variations were observed during X-ray analysis: the crystallinity of the fibers as well as the size of the crystals increases with the number of wash cycles. The XPS analysis shows that after 10 cycles, the surface of the masks underwent a slight oxidation. In the SEM images, changes were observed in the arrangement of the fibers, which are more visible the more times the mask has been washed: they align themselves in bundles, form areas with holes in the mask layer, and are crushed in some areas.