FIT Receives Grant to Develop Reusable Face Masks from Plastic Waste
AuthorAdministratorREG_DATE2024.02.05Hits182
Picture 1: Collect face mask waste. Picture 2: Collect plastic waste. Picture 3: Convert face mask waste into 3D printer filaments for making reusable face mask frame. Picture 4: Make plastic waste into antimicrobial nanofiber filter with advanced nonwoven technology. Picture 5: 3D printed face mask frame with the nanofiber filter incorporated. Picture 6: Comprehensive evaluation of the performance of the 3D-printed face mask prototypes.
The worst of the pandemic may be largely over, but the waste from everyone’s face masks isn’t. Now three Textile Development and Marketing faculty members—assistant chair Ajoy Sarkar and assistant professors Huipu Gao and Imran Islam—working with FIT students, have received a $75,000 P3 (People, Prosperity, Planet) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant to try to solve that problem by developing one-of-a-kind reusable, antiviral face masks made from plastic waste.