Table 5.

Advantages and disadvantages of the electrospinning process.

	Electrospinning Process	Traditional Meltblown/Spunbond Process
Advantages
	Single production equipment can manufacture the outer layers and the mask’s filter.	Two different types of equipment are required to manufacture the meltblown (filter), and the spunbond (external layers) since the change in fiber diameter requires different techniques.
	Electrospun fabrics do not require heat-sealing processes to ensure the bonding of the fibers in the outer layers, although they do require fusing one layer with another.	The spunbond material requires a heat-sealing process to bond the fibers obtained and to form the fabric.
	Electrospinning parameters can be easily manipulated to obtain different fabrics with variable filtration performance.	It is more expensive and complex to manipulate the parameters to obtain different types of filter fabric.
	It offers versatility to functionalize fabrics (e.g., incorporating antimicrobial materials).	The versatility of the process is limited.
Disadvantages
	Toxic solvents are used that must be handled in controlled environments.	It is not necessary to have controlled environments for handling the materials.
	Reduced production rate.	High production rate.