To control infectious diseases, various applications of nanotechnology have been used to enhance the self-cleaning and antibacterial properties of materials. This study aimed to evaluate the antibacterial properties of face masks coated with TiO2 nanoparticles. The antibacterial efficacies of cloth face masks coated with TiO2 were measured by inoculating them in bacterial suspensions (105 CFUs from both E. coli and S. aureus). The results showed that TiO2 nanoparticle solutions (at 2%) reduced the starting inoculum of 105 CFUs (5 log cfu/cm2) of E. coli and S. aureus to 1.3 and 1.68 log, respectively, with antibacterial activities of 3.7 and 3.34 log, respectively. Furthermore, at a 1% concentration, the antibacterial activities against E. coli and S. aureus were 2.1 and 2.01 log, respectively, while at a low concentration (0.5%), the antibacterial activities against E. coli and S. aureus were 1.8 and 1.72 log, respectively. The CFUs in all the experimental groups were significantly lower than those in the control group (saline). In conclusion, TiO2 nanoparticle solutions with a high concentration (2%) demonstrated a strong antibacterial effect on E. coli and S. aureus, and the difference was statistically significant, while a significant antibacterial activity was demonstrated with lower concentration (0.5% and 1%) nanoparticle solutions of TiO2 after 18 h. There was a statistically significant difference regarding colony reduction between E. coli and S. aureus even at 3 h. The antibacterial activities of TiO2 in face masks could be promising for reducing the risk of bacterial infections.

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Summary This paper aims to study the effect on the characteristics of molten salt because of the dispersion of different size nanoparticles of Al2O3. The eutectic mixture of 54 wt% KNO3 and 46 wt% NaNO3 was selected as the base salt. Five different size nanoparticles of Al2O3, 80, 135, 200, 300, and 1000 nm, were dispersed into the base salt at a mass concentration of 1% to make the nanomaterials by a two‐step method, respectively. Thermal properties of the base salt and the samples with Al2O3 nanoparticles, including the melting point temperature, fusion heat, specific heat capacity, and thermal diffusivity, were measured with differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and Xenon Flash Apparatus (XFA). On the basis of the measured specific heat capacities and thermal diffusivities, their thermal conductivities in the solid state were calculated at discrete specified temperatures. The results showed that the dispersions of 200‐ and 135‐nm Al2O3 nanoparticles could enhance the average solid and liquid specific heat capacities by up to 17.2% and 19.7%, respectively. The research on thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity also verified that the influences of different size nanoparticles were different. Although no new strong intensity peaks or peak position variations were found in the diffraction patterns of the two samples with 80‐ and 1000‐nm nanoparticles of Al2O3, the larger deviations in the lower wavenumber region still meant possible crystalline structure variation because of the dispersion of Al2O3 nanoparticles. Scanning electronic microscope (SEM) images showed the inhomogeneity and the agglomeration of dispersed nanoparticles in the base salt, and the formation of a nanolayer around the nanoparticles could be a possible explanation to the thermal‐physical property variation.