IIT Kanpur alumni develop super activated carbon N-95 mask

A team of  IIT Kanpur alumni have developed a first-of-its-kind face mask, which not only protects a person from COVID-19 and external pollution, but also from their own respiratory odour and bacteria.

The team claims that the super-activated carbon N-95 mask is based on odourless technology and absorbs the particles that produce odour.

It has been created by Dr Sandeep Patil, Nitin Charate, Ankit Shukla and Mahesh Kumar.

Team leader Dr Patil said that the issue of bad odour often arises in the normal masks due to the presence of foul smells and bacteria in our breath. Keeping this in mind, his team has developed this multipurpose mask. 

These carbon particles hold the odorous particles that produce odour and absorb them under chemical process. When carbon is charged and prepared, its property changes, so it is not harmful to the body.

At the same time, the outer layer of the mask is coated with electrocharged nanoparticles, upon which the virus becomes ineffective when exposed.

The e-spin nanotech startup set up at the Innovation and Incubation Center at IIT Kanpur will produce the mask. The testing of this mask has been completed in a private laboratory and now it's ready for production.  It will soon be made available in the market.

The price of the mask will be slightly higher than a standard N-95 mask.