The Turkish textile company Ebruzen Textile is due to establish a company in the U.S. to market the antiviral fabrics it developed and the masks produced from this fabric, its officials said Sunday.
The company has been working on technical textiles in an organized industrial zone (OIZ) in the Turkish northwestern province of Bursa.
It has managed to develop the antiviral fabric by integrating a special chemical.
The fabric and masks produced from this fabric were analyzed and tested at the centers authorized by the Health Ministry for virus analysis and were granted the International Certificate of antiviral effectiveness EN18184.
They have been sold in the domestic market as well as exported abroad.
Sadık Kutlucan, an official at Ebruzen Textile, said the company, established in 2003, has been working on technical textiles, anti-static fabrics, fireproof fabrics and clothes made of these fabrics.
With the coronavirus pandemic, the research and development (R&D) team turned their attention to antiviral fabrics, Kutlucan told Anadolu Agency (AA). He said the fabrics were approved by the Health Ministry and also received positive results after being tested at internationally accredited laboratories by American accreditation centers.
"After the tests, we developed antiviral masks and products derived from the antiviral fabric," he said. "This fabric has a chemical that offers antiviral features and when the virus comes in contact with the fabric, it kills it with nanotechnology that does not allow the virus to move," Kutlucan explained.
"After the virus is destroyed, it cannot be transmitted to the other side of the fabric." Mass production for the mask has started and has been witnessing an intense demand, Kutlucan said.
He stressed they have submitted an application to establish a company in the U.S., which he said will be completed as soon as they receive the approval.
The official also said the fabric is being used for aprons used by doctors and hospital sheets, stressing that there were many investors interested in the product and that negotiations were underway.
The company’s R&D director, Ömer Tunçel, said the company has widened its product range during the pandemic.
Tunçel also said the antiviral fabric destroys the viruses in around two hours.
"The fabric we developed has a very effective filtration level of 98%. This level is still 94% even after washing the masks 20 times; they have to be washed with detergent and at 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit)," he explained.
"Our fabrics and masks are being tested at the Advanced Functional Fabrics of America, a unit of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In two weeks, we will start selling the masks to other countries through the company we will establish in America," Tunçel said.