Novel Smart N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirator with Real-time Adaptive Fit Functionality and Wireless Humidity Monitoring for Enhanced Wearable Comfort

TL;DR

This paper introduces a smart N95 respirator with real-time adaptive fit and wireless humidity monitoring, enhancing comfort and safety by addressing fit issues and providing air quality feedback during long-term use.

Contribution

The study presents a novel smart N95 respirator integrating humidity sensing and self-fit adjustment using laser-induced graphene and dielectric elastomer sensors, improving fit and user awareness.

Findings

Fit factor increased by 3.20 times on average.

Self-fit mechanism effectively adapts to facial variations.

Wireless humidity monitoring provides real-time air quality data.

Abstract

The widespread emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed our lifestyle, and facial respirators have become an essential part of daily life. Nevertheless, the current respirators possess several limitations such as poor respirator fit because they are incapable of covering diverse human facial sizes and shapes, potentially diminishing the effect of wearing respirators. In addition, the current facial respirators do not inform the user of the air quality within the smart facepiece respirator in case of continuous long-term use. Here, we demonstrate the novel smart N-95 filtering facepiece respirator that incorporates the humidity sensor and pressure sensory feedback-enabled self-fit adjusting functionality for the effective performance of the facial respirator to prevent the transmission of airborne pathogens. The laser-induced graphene (LIG) constitutes the humidity sensor, and the pressure sensor array based on the dielectric elastomeric sponge monitors the respirator contact on the face of the user, providing the sensory information for a closed-loop feedback mechanism. As a result of the self-fit adjusting mode along with elastomeric lining, the fit factor is increased by 3.20 and 5 times at average and maximum respectively. We expect that the experimental proof-of-concept of this work will offer viable solutions to the current commercial respirators to address the limitations.