Associate Professor Liu Zheng (left) holding the nanotech mask with Professor Lam Yeng Ming holding the copper nanoparticles in a bottle. - NTU
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): Scientists from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have developed a reusable mask that is able to kill bacteria droplets within 45 seconds and filter 99.9 per cent of bacteria, viruses and haze particles - better than the medical-grade N95 masks used in hospitals.
N95 masks are able to prevent around 95 per cent of aerosolised droplets and particulate matter of around 0.3 microns in size from entering them.
The filter of the NTU-developed mask is coated with a layer of copper oxide nanoparticles, which damage the DNA of important cell structures in the bacteria, causing them to die, said Professor Lam Yeng Ming, chair of NTU s School of Materials Science and Engineering, who developed the antimicrobial coating.
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): A 34-year-old Singaporean housewife and former religious teacher has been detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for planning to travel to Syria to take up armed violence for terrorist group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): An 86-year-old Singaporean woman linked to the now-closed Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) cluster died from complications due to Covid-19 infection on Monday (June 7), bringing the total number of deaths here to 34.