The production facility, operated by AdhviQ Technologies LLC, opened in late November on the UofL Belknap campus. It now churns out about 50 of the N95-style masks, plus about 100 three-ply non-surgical masks per minute, as well as filters for cloth masks and has made them commercially available. The company plans to ramp up production amid rising coronavirus case numbers.

Mahendra Sunkara said he and other UofL researchers invented the masks to address , or PPE.  While commonly worn disposable masks are meant , the UofL N95-style masks are unique in that their nanowire-woven fabric can be washed and reused multiple times — all while still filtering down to 0.1 microns.

“Being able to reuse masks and filters effectively can help people protect themselves in everyday settings like grocery stores,” said Sunkara, a UofL chemical engineering professor. “But they could especially help health care workers, who may not have access to as many disposable masks as they need to do their jobs safely. With these masks, they could wash and wear the same one over and over again without losing effectiveness.”

The technology was created by researchers at UofL’s , where Sunkara is director, and the UofL . Early in the pandemic, they pivoted from their previous studies in areas such as solar power and robotics to develop tools that could help people stay safe.

The researchers  Advanced Energy Materials (ADEM), a UofL-offshoot company founded by Sunkara that produces nanowire for catalysts, to develop and patent the technology. A new company, AdhviQ, licensed that technology and now manufactures and sells the finished products made using materials from ADEM.

Both ADEM and AdhviQ were created at UofL, are based on UofL research and also are physically located on UofL’s Belknap campus.

“This is an excellent example of what can be accomplished when UofL research meets industry capability,” said Kevin Gardner, UofL’s executive vice president for research and innovation. “In this time of crisis, UofL researchers have risen to the challenge of keeping people safe in every aspect. This is yet another example of them doing the hard work to combat this virus and truly advance our health.”

The masks are made using inorganic nanowires woven into special polymer cloth, forming a porous network whose openings are too small for viral particles to pass through. Because the nanowire is made of titania and zinc oxide, the masks also can easily be disinfected using low-energy ultraviolet light as an alternative to disinfecting with soap and water.

The nanowire masks differ from current N95 masks, which rely on an electrostatic charge on polymer fiber cloth to capture and filter out particles like dust, mold and pollen. The electrostatic masks may not work to filter out liquid droplets or viral pathogens, while the UofL masks can.

“In working together, we have been able to create a truly great product, built on UofL research, that’s reusable, cost-effective and filters better than commonly available disposable masks,” said Siva Kakarala, founder and CEO of AdhviQ. “Our overall goal is to give people the tools that can help them stay safe and healthy.”

The masks are available for order on the , and the company expects to receive FDA certification soon.

The masks are being developed using nanomaterial research at the Conn Center, a J.B. Speed School of Engineering center that usually focuses on commercializing innovations in solar energy storage, biofuels, solar fuels and energy efficiency. Researchers saw an opportunity to use their innovative work to help provide low-cost, effective personal protective equipment (PPE) for health care workers.

Unlike currently available N95 masks, which cannot be reused without special decontamination procedures, these cost-effective nanofilter masks can be easily washed, dried and reused.

They are made using inorganic nanowires impregnated into a woven polymer cloth with a minimum efficiency reporting value (MERV) of 15 that together form a porous network whose openings are too small for viral particles to pass through. Current N95 masks rely on an electrostatic charge on polymer fiber cloth to capture nuisance particles such as dust, mold and pollen. This method may not be effective with liquid droplets or viral pathogens and doesn’t offer any disinfection capabilities.

The titania and zinc oxide nanowire materials that form the nanofilter are also capable of absorbing ultraviolet (UV) light, a benefit of their adoption from the renewable energy research at Conn Center. The filters can be disinfected using a low energy UV light source, helping to reduce PPE costs in hospitals.

The partnership includes Ed Tackett, director of workforce development at AMIST, and chemical engineering Professor Mahendra Sunkara, director of the Conn Center. Sunkara co-founded ADEM in 2010 with his wife, CEO Vasanthi Sunkara, to scale up energy materials innovations from his work at the university.

Since then, ADEM has scaled up manufacturing of nanowire materials from grams at a time to ton scale. “Producing bulk quantities is a considerable challenge in translating a new material from laboratory to marketplace,” Mahendra Sunkara said. “In the lab, we only make very small amounts to test and study, but tons per day are required for meeting commercial demand.”

Tackett and Sunkara realized a growing PPE challenge as the COVID-19 pandemic has unfolded.

“How do we as Kentucky respond to multiple waves of disease and low case rate due to success of ‘stay safe’ measures?” Tackett said. “We are all working together to keep the rate of incidence low, but that also means we will have difficulty in priority purchasing for PPE since Kentucky isn’t a hotspot. Our solution is making them here instead of buying elsewhere.”

The manufacturing method for the masks is adopted from Conn Center’s roll-to-roll printing techniques used in battery electrode and solar cell fabrication. The availability of materials at quantity and adapted expertise made this nanofiltered cloth innovation possible.

“The shortage of protective gear during this pandemic has made us rethink our strategy to utilize ADEM’s nanowire materials for PPE,” said Vasanthi Sunkara. “It just shows that with the right connections, expertise and resources, the university and industry can come together quickly to move innovation through manufacturing and into the market to affect this challenge head-on.”

Prototype testing on the nanofilters is underway. Once validated, the next steps are to set up manufacturing in two types of facilities. The first is a large-scale, roll-to-roll printing operation for making the nanofilter cloth. The second is a forming and assembly line to make flat filters and ready-to-wear N95-style respirators.

ADEM in conjunction with Conn Center will produce both flat filters and respirators right away. The center can produce thousands over the next two months until automated production equipment is put in place for mass production at several million per year. AMIST and the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development are looking at what is needed to build the mask-making capacity for Kentucky.

Funding for this phase has been made possible by Hank and Rebecca Conn, benefactors of the Conn Center. The gift is intended to be matched by donors who want to help during the COVID-19 crisis.

“It is the right thing to do,” said Hank Conn. “Conn Center technologies are intended for renewable energy but can impact the immediate health crisis. We are giving this innovation early support that it may reach a commercialization partner for the good of us all.”