Abstract
The outbreak of the coronavirus disease has drawn public attention to the transmission of infectious pathogens, and as major carriers of those pathogens, respiratory droplets play an important role in the process of transmission. This Review describes respiratory droplets from a physical and mechanical perspective, especially their correlation with the transmission of infectious pathogens. It covers the important aspects of (i) the generation and expulsion of droplets during respiratory activities, (ii) the transport and evolution of respiratory droplets in the ambient environment, and (iii) the inhalation and deposition of droplets in the human respiratory tract. State-of-the-art experimental, computational, and theoretical models and results are presented, and the corresponding knowledge gaps are identified. This Review stresses the multidisciplinary nature of its subject and appeals for collaboration among different fields to fight the present pandemic.