Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Influence of COVID-19 Face Mask Additives on the High-Temperature and Fatigue Performance of Asphalt Binder

This engineering study tested whether shredded disposable face masks could be used as additives in road asphalt. Adding 5% mask material modestly improved fatigue life, but higher percentages reduced it, suggesting limited but possible applications for recycling mask waste into road materials.

2023 Advances in transdisciplinary engineering 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Repurposing the disposable face masks in hot mix asphalt: Enhancing pavement performance and addressing plastic waste pollution

Researchers investigated repurposing shredded single-use polypropylene face masks as an additive in hot mix asphalt, evaluating improvements to mechanical performance of the pavement while simultaneously addressing the surge in disposable mask waste generated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

2025
Article Tier 2

An Investigation into the Behavior of Disposable Face Masks in Modified Bitumen for Sustainable Transportation Pathways

Researchers tested disposable face mask ash as an additive to bitumen at 5-20% by weight for use in road construction, finding that the PEN 60/70 grade bitumen showed improved asphalt properties, suggesting COVID-era mask waste could be repurposed as a sustainable road-building material.

2023 Jurnal Kejuruteraan 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Sustainable use of COVID-19 discarded face masks to improve the performance of stone mastic asphalt

Researchers found that incorporating shredded COVID-19 face mask waste into stone mastic asphalt improved the pavement mixture's performance, offering a dual benefit of reducing pandemic waste while enhancing road construction materials.

2023 Construction and Building Materials 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Recycling of Polymer Components From Waste Face Masks for Asphalt Modification: A Mini Review

Polymer components recovered from waste face masks (a major source of plastic waste since the COVID-19 pandemic) were recycled and incorporated into new materials. The study supports developing circular recycling pathways for the large volume of disposable mask plastic that otherwise risks fragmenting into microplastics.

2025 Journal of Applied Polymer Science 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Infrastructure in the Age of Pandemics: Utilizing Polypropylene-Based Mask Waste for Durable and Sustainable Road Pavements

Researchers investigated sterilized shredded polypropylene mask residues (SMR) from pandemic-era disposable masks as modifiers for asphalt pavement, testing SMR additions at 3, 6, and 9 weight percent using thin-layer chromatography, flame ionization detection, and other advanced characterization methods. The study found that SMR-modified asphalt exhibited improved durability and mechanical properties, offering a sustainable strategy for diverting mask waste into road infrastructure.

2023 Polymers 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Advanced Recycling of Modified EDPM Rubber in Bituminous Asphalt Paving

Researchers explored recycling discarded COVID-19 surgical masks by incorporating them into bituminous asphalt for road pavement. Testing showed the mask material, made from modified rubber and polypropylene, could be blended into asphalt base courses without compromising structural performance, offering a potential circular-economy approach to managing pandemic plastic waste.

2024 Buildings 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Evaluating the cost of collection, processing, and application of face masks in hot-mix asphalt (HMA) pavements

Researchers calculated the full costs of collecting, shredding, and incorporating waste COVID-19 face masks into road asphalt, finding that while initial costs are similar to conventional pavement for shorter roads, mask-modified asphalt saves about 29% in maintenance costs over a 40-year lifespan due to improved durability.

2022 Heliyon 9 citations
Article Tier 2

A Safe Collection Process of Covid-19 Disposable Face Masks for the Applications in Asphalt Pavements

This study developed a theoretical collection and processing pathway for disposable COVID-19 face masks to enable their use as a material in asphalt pavement. The pandemic generated massive quantities of mask waste, which contains polypropylene microplastics; the proposed approach offers a way to divert this waste from landfills while making use of its material properties.

2023 EPiC series in built environment 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Incorporation of Disposed Face Mask to Cement Mortar Material: An Insight into the Dynamic Mechanical Properties

Researchers incorporated shredded waste face masks into cement mortar mixes at varying proportions, evaluating the mechanical and durability properties of the resulting composite. Adding mask material at low proportions reduced compressive strength moderately but improved energy absorption, suggesting face mask waste could be valorized as a construction material additive.

2024 Buildings 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Reutilizing Single-Use Surgical Face Masks to Improve the Mechanical Properties of Concrete: A Feasibility Study

Researchers investigated reutilizing single-use surgical face masks as a material to improve the mechanical properties of construction or composite materials. The study demonstrates a potential upcycling pathway for pandemic-generated mask waste, converting a pollution problem into a resource.

2023 Engineering Technology & Applied Science Research 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Unsur Senyawa Kimia Dari Limbah Masker Medis Untuk Meningkatkan Kinerja Campuran Aspal

This Indonesian literature review examines chemical components in medical face mask waste, particularly polypropylene and silica, and their potential as additives in asphalt mixtures. The dominant silicon content (59%) could improve asphalt resistance to rutting and increase fatigue life when mask waste is incorporated as an additive.

2023 Menara Jurnal Teknik Sipil
Article Tier 2

Green Recycling and Long-Term Immobilization of Disposable Medical Masks for Enhanced Mechanical Performance of Self-Compacting Recycled Concrete

Researchers proposed an eco-friendly strategy to repurpose discarded COVID-era medical masks as fiber reinforcement in self-compacting recycled aggregate concrete. Mask-derived polypropylene fibers improved tensile strength and reduced brittleness while providing an environmentally responsible disposal route for pandemic plastic waste.

2025 Buildings
Article Tier 2

Analysis of the effect of using Covid-19 medical mask waste with polypropylene on the compressive strength and split tensile strength of high-performance concrete

Researchers analyzed the effect of incorporating shredded Covid-19 medical mask waste (polypropylene fibers) into high-performance concrete mixes, testing the impact on compressive strength and splitting tensile strength at multiple fiber addition levels. The study found that sterilized and cut mask fibers can function as reinforcement in concrete, offering an innovative approach to managing the large volume of pandemic-generated plastic mask waste.

2023 Eastern-European Journal of Enterprise Technologies 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Production and Characterization of Waste Mask Reinforced Polyester Composite

Researchers produced and characterized polyester composites reinforced with ground waste COVID-19 masks at 0-10% by mass, finding that increasing mask content decreased density and Shore D hardness while raising porosity, thermal conductivity, and activation energy.

2022 İnönü Üniversitesi Sağlık Hizmetleri Meslek Yüksek Okulu Dergisi 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Effective recycling of disposable medical face masks for sustainable green concrete via a new fiber hybridization technique

Researchers recycled disposable medical face masks by shredding them into fibers and hybridizing them with basalt fibers in recycled aggregate concrete, finding that the combined fiber approach improved compressive strength by 12%, tensile strength by 26%, and flexural strength by 60% compared to unmodified concrete — meeting structural requirements while diverting mask waste from landfills.

2022 Construction and Building Materials 55 citations
Article Tier 2

Mechanical behavior of sands reinforced with shredded face masks

Researchers added shredded COVID-19 face masks to sand samples and found that the plastic fiber inclusions substantially improved undrained shear strength, with longer mask strips and lower confining stress producing the greatest gains, suggesting masks could serve as a low-cost soil reinforcement material.

2022 Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment 22 citations
Article Tier 2

Second Life for Plastic Fibre Waste Difficult to Recover: Partial Replacement of the Binder in Asphalt Concrete Mixtures by Dry Incorporation

Researchers found that incorporating waste plastic fibers from municipal solid waste into asphalt concrete as a partial bitumen replacement improved resistance to plastic deformation and mechanical performance, with results approaching those of polymer-modified bitumen mixtures while improving material sustainability.

2023 Materials 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Face Mask Wastes as Cementitious Materials: A Possible Solution to a Big Concern

Researchers investigated the use of waste surgical masks as a cementitious additive in mortars without pretreatment, addressing the dual problem of pandemic-era mask waste and microplastic contamination. The study evaluated the mechanical and environmental performance of mortars incorporating mask materials as part of circular economy waste management.

2022 Materials 27 citations
Article Tier 2

Experimental Study on the Mechanical Behavior of Sandy Soil Reinforced by Disposable Face Mask Chips under Different Stress Paths

Researchers evaluated using shredded disposable face mask chips to reinforce sandy soil under different stress paths, finding that mask chip inclusion improved the mechanical strength properties of the soil as a potential waste reuse strategy.

2023 Sustainability 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Enhancing Concrete Strength with Recycled Disposable Face Mask Fibers: A Novel Approach to Sustainable Construction

Researchers developed a novel method to recycle disposable face masks (DFMs) from the COVID-19 pandemic by converting them into reinforcing fibers for concrete, addressing both medical plastic waste accumulation and microplastic pollution risks from discarded masks. The recycled mask fibers, added to concrete mixtures after a preliminary treatment process, were found to enhance the structural strength properties of the resulting composite material.

2025 Journal of Studies in Science and Engineering
Article Tier 2

Mechanical characterizations of waste face masks reinforced polyester composites: Recycling wastes into resources

Researchers explored recycling discarded face masks into composite materials by combining shredded mask fibers with polyester resin. The resulting composites showed promising mechanical strength comparable to natural fiber alternatives, suggesting that waste face masks could be repurposed rather than ending up as microplastic pollution in the environment.

2024 Heliyon 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Mechanical Behavior of Masonry Mortars Reinforced with Disposable Face Mask Strips

Researchers experimentally analyzed the mechanical behavior of masonry mortars reinforced with disposable face mask strips cut into 3x3 mm and 3x10 mm sizes, providing data on flexural and compressive strength changes at varying fiber inclusion levels. The study found that face mask strips can improve certain mechanical properties of mortar mixtures, supporting the feasibility of recycling pandemic-era disposable plastics as construction material reinforcement.

2024 Materials 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Property assessment of an eco-friendly mortar reinforced with recycled mask fiber derived from COVID-19 single-use face masks

Researchers developed an eco-friendly mortar reinforced with recycled polypropylene fibers from COVID-19 single-use face masks, demonstrating a practical approach to repurposing pandemic waste while reducing environmental microplastic contamination.

2023 Journal of Building Engineering 45 citations