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Quick response research to COVID-19 – Development of face mask

The COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak which started in January 2020 and ultimately designated a pandemic status has led to an unprecedented global demand for disposable face masks.  The demand is based on the belief that wearing a face mask can protect the wearer from infection of the coronavirus, which has resulted in a chronic shortage of supply in markets worldwide, but especially in Hong Kong.  In order to provide an alternative to disposable face masks, an ad-hoc project on developing an effective antiviral, washable and reusable face mask is led by ITC with the following team members: Chi-wai KAN, Professor of ITC, Faculty of Applied Science and Textiles (FAST) Joanne YIP, Associate Professor of ITC, FAST Chris LO, Associate Professor of ITC, FAST Joseph Ka-fu YUNG, Associate Professor of Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology (ABCT), FAST Amber Jia-chi CHIOU, Assistant Professor of ABCT, FAST Hai GUO, Professor of Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), Faculty of Construction and Environment Simon Ching LAM, School of Nursing (SN), Faculty of Health and Social Sciences   1. Development of Face Mask The project team proposed the fabrication of a 3-layer face mask with good filtration efficiency and antimicrobial capability, which they called PU30TM. The outer layer is cotton fabric with good antimicrobial capability and water repellency. The middle layer is non-woven fabric with good filtration efficiency. The inside layer is cotton fabric with good softness and water absorption ability.  The ITC team (Prof. KAN, Dr. YIP and Dr. LO) used different textiles to develop PU30TM. They examined the use of an antimicrobial coating technology to construct the outer layer of the face mask, which would impart an antimicrobial effect.  The ABCT team (Dr. YUNG and Dr. CHIOU) evaluated the antimicrobial effect of PU30TM and examined its durability.  The CEE and SN team (Prof. GUO and Dr. LAM) evaluated the filtration efficiency of the non-woven fabric to determine the best material for the middle layer that would meet international standards.  The properties and efficiencies of the face mask materials are listed in Table 1.      Table 1. Face mask properties Property Result Bacterial Filtration Efficiency (BFE%; ASTM F2100 9.1/ASTM F2101) 95% Particulate Filtration Efficiency (PFE% ; ASTM F2100 9.3/ASTM F2299) 95% Viral Filtration Efficiency (VFE%; ASTM F2101)  95% Resistance to Penetration by Synthetic Blood (ASTM F2100 9.4/ASTM F1862) No penetration Flammability (ASTM F2100 9.5/16 CFR PART 1610) Class 1 Antibacterial effect (AATCC 100) -Staphylococcus aureus 99.9% inhibition Antibacterial effect (AATCC 100) -Klebsiella pneumoniae 99.9% inhibition Water repellency (AATCC 22) Completely dry Notes: The antiviral properties of the outer layer of fabric to H1N1 and COVID-19 are tested in a local university with an in-house testing method. Inhibition of virus growth: 90%. 2. Know-how Generated – PU30TM The research work on developing PU30TM has resulted in five patents filed in the US, China and Hong Kong to protect this intellectual property.  A trademark for the name of the mask, PU30TM, has also been filed in China and Hong Kong. An image of the mask is shown in Photo 1. 3. Social Impacts After the development of PU30TM in February 2020, a production process was implemented in March and April 2020 in Hong Kong to produce a certain number of face masks which would be distributed to the needy.  The pilot activities were conducted from March to June 2020 as follows. Social Service Centres under the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council Limited recruited sewing workers who were unemployed due to COVID-19. They produced more than 2900 children’s face masks. ITC provided Work-Integrated-Education (WIE) opportunities to more than 33 undergraduate students in various fashion disciplines (i.e., technology, intimate apparel and activewear, fashion design, etc.) who applied their knowledge and skills to make, package and distribute PU30TM (see Photo 2). The tasks also allowed the students to apply their knowledge and skills to a real world context. In May 2020, a batch of PU30TM was distributed to the FAST staff and PolyU community for a trial wear. In June 2020, more than 20,000 PU30TM for adults and children were donated to the needy and distributed through the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council Limited (Photo 3).  In the spirit of caring and love, about 1000 PU30TM were specifically donated to the students and staff of the Sheng Kung Hui Holy Spirit Primary School on 19 June 2020. 4. Research Impact - from Face Mask to Other Personal Protective Equipment Research Work The ad-hoc research process which was carried out to address the COVID-19 outbreak allowed the team members to acquire new knowledge not only in face masks but also in personal protective equipment.  The ITC team members further obtained funding support from the Public Sector Trial Scheme for the Prevention and Control of COVID-19 in Hong Kong (PSTS-COVID-19) administered by the Innovation and Technology Fund, HKSAR Government as Principal Investigator (PI) or Co-investigator (Co-I) for various studies and in different areas to advance personal protective equipment in a variety of application areas. The details of the funded projects are as follows. Developing Antiviral and Durable Clothing for Healthcare Workers in Elderly Homes by Prof. Chi-wai KAN as PI - 1000 antiviral and durable garments will be provided to healthcare workers in elderly homes Developing Healthcare Clothing with Antiviral and Antibacterial Capabilities by Prof. Chi-wai KAN as PI - 2000 healthcare worker garments with antiviral and antibacterial capabilities will be provided to healthcare workers who are working in hospitals under the Hospital Authority PU30TM – Antiviral, Washable and Reusable Face Mask by Dr. Joanne Yiu-wan YIP as PI - 40,000 antiviral, washable and reusable face masks will be provided to the needy through the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council Limited 3D Printed Antivirus Materials and Application in Public Facilities by Dr Chris LO as PI - Provides 3D printed handles with long lasting antimicrobial capability that will be installed on used-clothing recycling boxes around Hong Kong, and anticipated to be used by at least 20,000 individuals each month. This is a collaborative effort with the Home Affairs Department and Friends of the Earth (HK) and  provides customized 3D printed covers for exhibitions / handles / lift buttons with long lasting antimicrobial capability at the Hong Kong Wetland Park, where over 90,000 local and international visitors will be protected. In addition, the project team has participated in the 國家重點研發計劃項目 administered by 中華人民共和國科學技術部 Project title: 輸入性疫情防控方案及裝備研製 - 安全防護用具(抗病毒口罩，防護服) 研究重點:側重研究抗病毒塗層技術應用於防護用具,從而使其具有抗病毒效果,同時不影響其透氣性及其他表面性狀。 Project team awards FAST Faculty Award 2019/2020 – Team Award in Research and Scholarly Activities

REFORMING FASHION – Online Student Fashion Show

ITC is launching our very first online student fashion show on the ITC Facebook Fan Page, Instagram and Linkedin to curate the amazing works of our graduating students online . The fashion show features three categories: “Intimate Design”, “Fashion Design” and “Knitwear Design”. We will first show the design works of the 12 finalists of the PolyU Intimate Fashion Show 2020 who are majoring in Intimate Apparel and Activewear from 27 June to 8 July. This will be followed by the design works of the 17 finalists of the PolyU Fashion Show 2020. Last but not least, the works of students in the Knitwear Design and Technology specialism will be showcased.

Distributing PU30 reusable face masks to protect community

Hundreds of local schools in Hong Kong reopened on 27 May 2020 after months of closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To help students protect themselves against the spread of this coronavirus, Prof Kan Chi-wai, Professor of ITC, and Dr Joanne Yip, Associate Professor of ITC, visited Sheng Kung Hui Holy Spirit Primary School on 19 June 2020 to donate nearly a thousand PU30TM face masks. Developed by a research team led by Prof. Kan and Dr Yip, PU30TM is an antiviral, washable and reusable mask. The mask has been in-vitro shown to inhibit tested strains of influenza virus (H1N1) and the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) upon contact with the surface of the face mask. However, correlation between the in-vitro testing results and any clinical event has yet to be established. Related news: Quick response research to COVID-19 – Development of face mask

Prof. Xiaoming Tao leads Research Team to Produce Novel Green Anti-pathogenic Agent and Textiles

A multidisciplinary team led by Prof. Xiaoming Tao, Chair Professor of ITC, has made the novel discovery of the application of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) oligomer as an outstanding wide-spectrum anti-pathogenic agent against viruses, fungi, disease causing agents like mice, bacteria and drug-resistant bacteria. The PHB oligomer synthesized in the ITC laboratory demonstrates excellent efficacy against influenza viruses H1N1 and H3N2. Its inactivation rate exceeds 99.99% or in other words, the inactivation index is 4.24 and 4.40 for H1N1 and H3N2, respectively. An anti-pathogenic agent is found in a fiber-forming biopolymer, poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV), that is produced through the fermentation of starch or sugar. Thus the use of PHBV/ poly(lactic acid) (PLA) fibers in a range of textile manufacturing processes including fiber spinning, filament yarn texturing, yarn spinning, weaving, knitting, coloring and nonwoven processing, has been extensively studied by the team. As a result, high-quality fibers have been commercially produced and used to fabricate a wide range of commercial anti-pathogenic products, including face-masks, undergarments, gowns, socks as well as beddings by a number of industrial companies in Hong Kong and Mainland China. The resultant textiles maintain their anti-pathogenic properties after 50 machine wash cycles. Compared to most anti-pathogenic agents and anti-bacteria textiles currently found in the market, the new agent and textiles not only are highly effective, but also have other outstanding properties, such as non-toxicity and anti-allergic properties. Yet another advantage is their environmental friendliness. Unlike other types of organic or inorganic agents, they are fully degradable into carbon dioxide and water, without any harmful residual matter left for the landfill. PolyU, ITF/HKRITA, eight industrial companies and two NGOs have supported five consecutive research projects during the last 6 years. In the ongoing projects, the anti-pathogenic agent and textile products are being investigated for the prevention and reduction of viral and microbial infections in nursing homes, hospitals as well as other public venues. Ma LL, Zhang ZH, Li J, Yang XX, Fei B, Leung P, Tao XM*, 2019. A new antimicrobial agent: poly (3-hydroxybutyric acid) oligomer, Macromolecular Bioscience, 19(5), 1970014. Zhang ZH, Li J, Ma LL, Liu SR, Leung P, Tao XM*, Green wide-spectrum anti-pathogenic agents and its personal protective devices, Infectious Diseases Virtual 2020, June 14, 2020. (Invited paper)

Dr Patrick Hui and Prof. Chi-wai Kan publish in Carbohydrate Polymers

Dr Patrick Hui, Associate Professor of ITC and Prof Kan Chi-wai, Professor of ITC, recently coauthored a paper published in Carbohydrate Polymers (Top 5% journal in the categories of Polymer Science, Chemistry (Organic) and Chemistry (Applied) according to Journal Citation Reports 2019 (JCR 2019), Web of Science), which is a top-tier Elsevier journal with an impact factor of 7.182.  Their paper, "Drug delivery system of dual-responsive PF-127 hydrogel with polysaccharide-based nano-conjugate for textile-based transdermal therapy", discusses the development of a Pluronic F-127 based dual-responsive (pH/temperature) hydrogel drug delivery system that involves a polysaccharide-based nano-conjugate of hyaluronic acid and chitosan oligosaccharide lactate. The system is applied to load a traditional Chinese medicine called Cortex Moutan to treat eczema. The study immensely contributes to the literature on drug delivery with the use of herbal medicine. S. Chatterjee, P.C.L. Hui*, E. Wat, C.W. Kan, P.C. Leung, and Wenyi Wang, “Drug delivery system of dual-responsive PF-127 hydrogel with polysaccharide-based nano-conjugate for textile-based transdermal therapy”, Carbohydrate Polymers, 2020, 236, 116074; DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.116074

「國家教育部2020年度高等學校科學研究優秀成果獎(科學技術)」提名公示

Prof. Jason Choi publishes in Production and Operations Management journal

ITC congratulates Prof. Jason Choi for the recent publication of his paper in Production and Operations Management, a premier business journal that is listed in all major business school journal lists (for example, The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) journal list, Financial Times Top 50 Journals list, Business Week list, etc.). The paper is based on research on supply chain management with risk considerations, which is an important research area that is especially relevant to supply chains that produce and sell short-life fashion products. In the literature, the classical newsvendor model is often used to explore inventory management problems in supply chains that sell short-life fashionable and seasonal products. The standard newsvendor problem seeks to minimize the expected inventory cost or maximize the expected profit. However, optimizing an expected value alone does not fully capture the stochastic nature of the newsvendor problem. Inspired by the Nobel prize winning mean-variance theory in economic sciences and the higher-moment analyses explored in the finance literature, Professor Choi and his co-authors theoretically conduct a mean-variance-skewness-kurtosis (MVSK) analysis for the newsvendor problem. They first derive the analytical expressions for the mean, variance, skewness, and kurtosis of profit in a standard newsvendor setting and reveal their structural properties. They then establish various MVSK optimization problems and find the solution to each of them. They show that kurtosis aversion always causes the newsvendor to order less, while skewness seeking can cause the newsvendor to order either more or less depending on the specific structure of the profit’s skewness, which is affected by the symmetric and asymmetric properties of the demand distribution. Finally, they address the challenges of supply chain coordination based on the Pareto optimality concept. They reveal that considering the MVSK preferences of supply chain agents will significantly affect the achievability of supply chain coordination and flexibility of the coordinating contract. Zhang, J., S.P. Sethi, T.M. Choi*, T.C.E. Cheng. 2020. Supply Chains Involving a Mean-Variance-Skewness-Kurtosis Newsvendor: Analysis and Coordination. Production and Operations Management 29(6), 1397-1430. https://doi.org/10.1111/poms.13159

New ITC tagline – Pioneering Fashion and Textile Education and Research

ITC is introducing a new tagline in our efforts to enhance the awareness and understanding of PolyU staff, students, alumni, and industrial and education partners on the essence of our brand and uniqueness - Pioneering Fashion and Textile Education and Research 創意時尚 編織未來. We are proud of our history and achievements at ITC. The new  tagline perfectly conveys a powerful message to the community which will increase rapport with our friends and earn their support in achieving our vision and missions.

Dr Chloe Ki publishes top downloaded paper

ITC is pleased to announce that a paper written by Dr Chloe Ki and published in Psychology and Marketing has been recognized by Wiley-Blackwell as the one of the top most downloaded papers among work published between January 2018 and December 2019.  According to the March 2018 issue of the Association of Business Schools Academic Journal Quality Guide, Psychology and Marketing is one of the most highly regarded journals in the field. In recognition of Dr. Ki’s research entitled “The mechanism by which social media influencers persuade consumers: The role of consumers’ desire to mimic”, she received a certificate of achievement from Wiley-Blackwell which was also given to recognize that her research has had immediate impacts and helped to increase the visibility of Psychology and Marketing. In this study, Dr. Ki and Dr. Kim investigated the mechanism through which social media influencers (SMIs) persuade consumers to adopt certain brands. Their research provided empirical evidence after analyzing the responses of 395 U.S. consumers on how the process of influence by SMIs occurs in four principal stages: (1) the attempts of SMIs to influence (showcasing H1: attractive; H2: prestigious; H3 and H4: expert; H5: informative; and H6: interactive Instagram contents); (2) the attitudinal response of the target consumers to the influence exercised (evaluating the SMI as a H7: taste and H8: opinion leader); which, in turn, affects (3) the desire of the targets to comply (the desire to mimic); and ultimately (4) their favorable behavioral outcomes (H9: social media word‐of‐mouth and H10: purchase intentions). The empirical findings provide important insights for the current SMI literature as follows. First, the research work has identified the principal traits — i.e., specific qualities of the social media contents of SMIs (e.g., attractiveness, prestige, expertise, information and interaction)—that enable SMIs to appeal to peer consumers and amass followers. Second, the research indicates that it is both the taste and opinion leadership of SMIs that serve as equally important criteria in the evaluations of consumers of them. Third, the research provides initial insight for the literature by indicating that the desire of consumers to mimic SMIs plays a critical mediating role in translating the positive attitudes of consumers (i.e., viewing SMIs as taste and opinion leaders) into favorable behavioral outcomes (i.e., sharing the posts of SMIs or purchasing the same products, services or brands endorsed by the SMIs).

ITC students are Fashion Future Challenge Award 2019 Champion

The Fashion Future Challenge Award is a student fashion competition for universities and tertiary institutions in Hong Kong. Aside from the two teams of ITC students who took part and were selected as finalists in the 2019 competition, the other competing teams included students from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and The University of Hong Kong. One of the teams of ITC students with BA Years 3 and 4 students, including Leung Wai-chi Vincci, Lo Ching-yin Michelle, Ng Hoi-kei Kylah and Yu Ying-wa Sophos, received Champion for their proposal “Sustainable Dyes”.  The second PolyU team selected as a finalist included BA Year 3 students Ma Hoi-Yan Phyllis and Wong Lok-tin Jackson. The winning team proposed to reduce the amount of chemical pollution that results from the production of garments and give new life to the food waste produced by the community by turning food and other yard waste like flowers and leaves into sustainable organic dyes. At the same time, they proposed to increase the life span of each piece of fabric to reduce local textiles and clothing waste. They were awarded an internship opportunity at the Nan Fung Group and a cash prize of $15,000 sponsored by The Mills Fabrica. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the finalists submitted their video presentations for final assessment to a panel of judges, who included the Hon. Felix Chung Kwok-pan, Mr Alexander Chan of The Mills Fabrica, Prof. Philip Yeung of the Clothing Industry Training Authority, Ms Kay Liu of Redress, Ms Karen Ho of WWF-Hong Kong and Mr Kelvin Cheuk of American & Efird (HK) Ltd. About the Summit and the Award The Fashion Summit (Hong Kong) is an event that focuses on "Sustainable Development In Fashion". The event brings together leading academics, key players from the fashion industry, NGOs, the media, decision makers and leaders to achieve sustainable fashion in Asia. The Summit was held successfully on 5 and 6 September in 2019. The Fashion Summit is a platform for the next generation to brew, exchange and share their creative ideas that help to tackle future fashion challenges in the next 5 to 10 years. One of the highlights of the Summit, the Fashion Future Challenge Award, aims to help students propose solutions to the fashion industry towards future challenges; enhance their creativity as well as critical thinking, problem-solving and presentation skills; and exchange ideas with specialists/professionals from the industries. The judging criteria for the proposals focused on the four following areas: Innovativeness: Demonstrate insight into the industries and capability to meet industry needs Feasibility: Viability of application of proposed solutions in the industries Sustainability: Balance among economic, social and environmental performances Content Comprehensiveness: Application of acquired skills and theoretical knowledge to provide innovative and practical business solutions