There has been a lot of work being done in the field of flexible and printed electronics to try to stop the COVID-19 pandemic. Much of that work is in the area of sensors, but personal protective equipment, or PPE, is another area of great importance as masks can help prevent the disease from spreading.

Bonbouton is making inroads in the field of graphene-infused masks. The company, which is working on insoles to help detect and prevent diabetic amputations, has applied its expertise toward the field of masks.

The masks come in white, black, navy, brown and gray, and so far, the company’s results have been excellent, as its first large order of graphene masks has shipped to customers. The mask and filter are both washable and reusable.

Linh Le, Bonbouton’s founder and CEO, said that when the pandemic hit, the Bonbouton team was chipping in to donate PPEs to hospitals in the US, but the need was too great.

“We found that there was a huge shortage of masks, so rather than just donate funds, we decided to use our expertise in graphene technology (what’s found in our smart insole) to make our own mask and help the supply meet the demand,” Le added. “In addition to its sensing properties, graphene also has antiviral properties, making it a powerful material that is found in our mask’s filter.”

Le noted that graphene has ideal properties for filtering out viruses.

“What makes our mask superior for everyday use is that the graphene filter layer acts as a natural filter due to its hydrophobicity,” he noted. “This means that virus-carrying microdroplets will be repelled by the filter material, rather than just blocking the viral particles (and letting them stick).

“Because of the filter's hydrophobicity as the main microdroplet blocking mechanism, there is an immediate gain in breathability due to full control of the filter's air permeability,” Le added. “Additionally, graphene possesses powerful antiviral properties; recently published studies have shown monolayered sheets of graphene oxide — which are very sharp-edged at the nanolayer — physically puncture viruses before they can enter the body, rendering them harmless. Moreover, negative electrostatic charges administered to the graphene oxide increases the material's effectiveness at drawing viruses toward the sharpened edges.”

Bonbouton is a young company, and has the flexibility to make a quick move to another product.

“As a young startup, we’re no strangers to pivoting,” Le reported. “We also are lucky to have great partners in the US and Asia who were able to help us with testing, manufacturing and research funding. Our collective years of experience working with graphene made the production of the graphene filter for the mask quite seamless.”

Meanwhile, insoles remain Bonbouton’s leading project.

“This pandemic has changed our insole trajectory slightly, but we’re trying to take advantage of this,” Le said. “We had plans to begin a clinical trial for the insole system at a major NYC hospital in April; that trial has now been placed on hold until the hospital system has the capacity to focus on non-COVID projects. While we await trials in the US, we are working on finalizing another trial with a hospital in Vietnam and are using the extra time to do even more rigorous testing and development of the entire system.”

So far, Le noted that the feedback on the masks has been “overwhelming.”

“While there are still new and improved versions we are scoping out for our next production, most customers have told us the mask is comfortable, stylish and easy to breathe in, which we’re really happy to hear,” Le said. “We've gotten a handful of repeat customers, which is always a great sign of customer satisfaction.”