Contaminants, such as pathogens or non-living substances, can spread through the interaction of their carriers (e.g., air and surfaces), which constitute a network. The structure of such networks plays an important role in the contaminant spread. We measured the contaminant spreading efficiency in different networks using a newly defined parameter. We analyzed basic networks to identify the effect of the network structure on the contaminant spread. The spreading efficiency was highly related to some network parameters, such as the source node’s average path length and degree, and considerably varied with the transfer rate per inter-node interaction. We compared the contaminant spreading efficiencies in some complex networks, namely scale-free, random, regular-lattice, and bipartite networks, with centralized, linear, and fractal networks. The contaminant spreading was particularly efficient in the fractal network when the transfer rate was ~0.5. Two categories of experiments were performed to validate the effect of the network structure on contaminant spreading in practical cases: (I) gas diffusion in multi-compartment cabins (II) bacteria transfer in multi-finger networks. The gas diffusion could be well estimated based on the diffusion between two compartments, and it was considerably affected by the network structure. Meanwhile, the bacteria spread was generally less efficient than expected.

污染物，例如病原体或非生命物质，可以通过其载体（例如空气和表面）的相互作用传播，这些载体构成一个网络。这种网络的结构在污染物传播中起着重要作用。我们使用新定义的参数测量了不同网络中的污染物扩散效率。我们分析了基本网络，以确定网络结构对污染物传播的影响。传播效率与一些网络参数高度相关，例如源节点的平均路径长度和度数，并且随着每次节点间交互的传输速率而变化很大。我们比较了一些复杂网络（即无标度、随机、规则格子和二分网络）与集中式、线性和分形网络中的污染物扩散效率。当传输速率约为 0.5 时，污染物扩散在分形网络中特别有效。进行了两类实验，以验证网络结构在实际案例中对污染物扩散的影响：（I）多隔间舱内的气体扩散（II）多指网络中的细菌转移。基于两个隔室之间的扩散可以很好地估计气体扩散，并且受网络结构的影响很大。同时，细菌传播的效率通常低于预期。(I) 多隔间舱内的气体扩散 (II) 细菌在多指网络中的转移。基于两个隔室之间的扩散可以很好地估计气体扩散，并且受网络结构的影响很大。同时，细菌传播的效率通常低于预期。(I) 多隔间舱内的气体扩散 (II) 细菌在多指网络中的转移。基于两个隔室之间的扩散可以很好地估计气体扩散，并且受网络结构的影响很大。同时，细菌传播的效率通常低于预期。