Fig. 1: 3D microstructures of the three commercial face masks (FMs) obtained by high-resolution X-ray tomography.
From: Microstructure analysis and image-based modelling of face masks for COVID-19 virus protection
The X-ray micro-CT images of the reusable (a–c), surgical (d–f) and N95 (g–i) face masks are reconstructed by using advanced iteration algorithm. The extracted cross-sectional slices in the X─Y (a, d, g) and X─Z (b, e, h) planes (X-ray attenuation depicted through a grayscale) show that each sample has two phases, namely fibres and air. The surgical face mask has three layers within the FOV whereas two layers are observed in N95. 3D microstructures of the reusable (c), surgical (f) and N95 (i) face masks are rendered (removing the pore phase) in purple, green and yellow, respectively.
