Technology created by a multidisciplinary research group at Bologna University in collaboration with Marchesini Group, enables the production of filtration materials for face masks with greater protection against viruses and bacteria compared to materials currently in use.
Once up and running, the prototype, which is housed in the laboratory of the Department of Industrial Engineering (DIN) in Bologna, will produce enough filtration material for around seven thousand masks per day.
The first production runs of these materials will be used to produce a prototype batch of FFP3-type masks by Zola Predosa-based company GVS.
This new material offers great advantages when used for protective face masks: it retains airborne particulates containing viruses and bacteria, blocking them far more effectively than more commonly used materials.
Marchesini Group
Moreover, it has an excellent particle filtration capacity, and can be applied to fabrics not normally used to produce face masks.
The researchers are now finalising the development of the machine, which should be fully operational in the space of a few weeks.
“The prototype enables industrial-scale production of this new type of filtration material, based on electrocharged polymer nanofibres”, explains Andrea Zucchelli, a professor with the Department of Industrial Engineering at Bologna University, and one of the project coordinators.
“We embarked on a co-design operation in partnership with Marchesini Group, which responded to an appeal we launched in Bologna, and in under two months, thanks to vital teamwork, we came up with this machine.”
“Only a University environment could nurture and support a project of this kind, designed to rapidly and effectively combine notions from the fields of mechanical engineering, polymer research and electrical engineering to develop an advanced electrospinning technology”, states Andrea Zucchelli of the Department of Industrial Engineering.
“Thanks to this synergy, we succeeded in combining electrospinning technology, which allows us to produce material with nanometric fibres, with corona discharge, thanks to which we were able to obtain nanofibres with a high electrostatic charge."