SSU announced on October 12 that Kim Joo-yong, a professor of organic new material fiber engineering, developed the world’s first anti-viral mask(K29TEX). Which is applied with copper special complex, along with textile company K-One-Tex. The K29TEX mask utilizes a fabric made by combining copper yarn with eco-friendly yarn, and was recognized by the Korea Testing Institute for COVID-19 target antiviral performance. Test results showed that the mask killed a variety of virus-causing bacteria, including the Corona virus, within 30 minutes.
SSU and K-One-Tax have steadily promoted joint research for more than a decade to develop various functional copper complexes. Mask K29TEX contains more than 50% copper and has been evaluated for its excellent antibacterial ablation performance through various test results.
The development of copper masks is very noteworthy, because demand for antiviral materials is increasing worldwide due to COVID-19. Professor Kim Joo-yong said, “We hope that excellent epidemic prevention materials can be actively studied and commercialized in Korea, starting with the development of anti-virus textile materials.”