The Nonwovens Institute (NWI) at North Carolina State University is proactively responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our aim is to fully leverage and fortify our facilities to produce facemasks that are desperately needed in the coronavirus fight. Thus, with the full support of NC State, NWI is dedicating its meltblown and spunbond nonwoven making facilities and expertise to produce specially designed fabrics that can be delivered to USA manufacturers to assemble facemasks. Photo by Marc Hall

(WNCT) North Carolina State University’s Nonwovens Institute (NWI) is manufacturing filtering material that can produce up to 500,000 surgical masks per day, officials said.

These masks will be used to protect health care workers and first responders on the front lines fighting the effects of COVID-19.

A unique spunbond nonwoven material created at NC State has excellent filtering capability and can potentially be reused after cleaning with peroxide or an alcohol solution.

Currently, NWI’s machines have the capability to produce 20,000 meters of the spunbond material in one day, with one meter equalling 20 to 25 masks.

Within the next month, additional equipment will arrive at NC State allowing for the production team to convert mask material into surgical masks, on-site.

More information is available here.