With the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic around the world, many companies have joined the fight to stop the deadly virus by creating and producing various types of medical supplies and healthcare solutions. Clothing companies began to sew aprons and protective N95 masks, chemical companies produced antibacterial gels, public and private universities and research centers started projects to create solutions that would help in a simple and quick way to study and prevent the disease.

ORDER NANOHACK 2.0 MASK

31.03.2020 UPDATE

Copper3D just released new model of its mask. You can dowload it here.

NANOHACK 2.0 – new N95 mask from Copper3D

Companies from the 3D printing industry have also taken on this challenge by successively presenting projects that are easy and quick to implement, increasing protection and safety of people. Until now, we have described examples of cooperation between The FabLab in Milan and Isinnova, who created the missing valves for an intensive care device for the Italian hospital in Brescia, the Belgian Materialise, which created a simple and fast 3D printing model of a safe door opener or the Czech PRUSA Research, which has created its own antibacterial gel. Now we are presenting another design…

Copper 3D – A Chilean manufacturer of innovative antibacterial filaments designed the own version of the popular N95 protective mask and prepared it perfectly optimized for 3D printing on desktop 3D printers of the FDM / FFF type. The project is released under an open-source license and has been simultaneously patent pending to prevent other entities from commercializing it.

Seeing the problem of the global shortage of N95 masks due to the exponential increase in world demand for them due to COVID-19 pandemic, Copper 3D team quickly got to work on developing the patent for a model similar to a standard N95 mask but with some peculiarities (Antiviral, Reusable, Modular, Washable, Recyclable, Low-Cost), which were completely designed in a digital environment so that it could be downloaded anywhere in the world and 3D printed with any FDM/FFF equipment, even a low cost one. The mask was called “NanoHack”.

29.03.2020 UPDATE

Doubts around the Copper 3D N95 mask – Naomi “Sexy Cyborg” Wu calls it a scam
COVID-19 3D printing health protective designs

Daniel Martínez – Director of Innovation at Copper 3D comments:

Now the challenge was purely logistical because there was a breakdown of the distribution chains in the world. On the other hand, 3D printing takes time, for example one of these masks takes around 2:00 hrs. to print what forced us to think collaboratively based on the concept of Distributed Manufacturing and networks of 3D printers working 24/7 in order to make a big amount of masks in a short time.

That’s when we decided that we should coordinate a worldwide network of startups, makers, universities and partner companies that will help us to print these masks, in order to quickly amplify access to this design and make it really have a global impact. And that’s exactly what we did: Hack this pandemic with Nanotechnology, 3D Printing, Distributed Manufacturing and Networks of Collaboration with many organizations and people around the world.

Additionally, we decided to immediately release the patent (which was filed and pending) so that this design would be completely Open Source. This is probably the first case in the history of 3D printing that the same design is downloaded massively worldwide to prevent more deaths in the context of a pandemic.

Copper 3D launched website dedicated to this project: www.copper3d.com/hackthepandemic

There you can find out all the technical details of the N95 mask and download set of STL files for printing on own 3D printer.

Claudio Soto MD – Medical Director of Copper3D, comments:

We feel that we have a great responsibility as a company and we wanted this design to be as similar as possible to a standard N95, which is what is suggested in this type of emergency with viral infections. I think the result is excellent and will be of great use to millions of people.

In these difficult times, it is now that united and collaborating each other, we can find solutions to cope with this pandemic, all together. I´m totally convinced that using our minds, ideas, innovation and technology we will find new ways to tackle this virus”.

Copper 3D is one of the most innovative companies in the 3D Printing industry worldwide. Between mid-2018 and the 1st half of 2019, they managed to raise two NASA funds to study the antimicrobial capabilities of their materials on the International Space Station (ISS).Copper 3D filament production technology is based on a patented and highly effective additive based on copper nanoparticles, transforming PLA thermoplastic into fully antibacterial nanocomposites. Most know material is PLACTIVE AN1 – a high quality PLA polymer with a 1% nanoporous additive, having “active” properties that eliminate a wide range of microorganisms. The manufacturer has also developed a medical material called NANOCLEAN – a high quality PETG anti-bacterial polymer, designed for more specific projects in the production of tools and components used in medical devices, and elastic filament with full antibacterial properties, called MDflexTM.

CD3D is proud to be one of the partners of the #hackthepandemic project.
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Paweł Ślusarczyk
CEO of 3D Printing Center. Has over 15 years' experience in buisiness, gained in IT, advertising and polygraphy. Part of 3D printing industry since 2013.

46 Comments

  1. A – I really like to see photos of this printed and tested.
    B – CU in my language (portuguese) is “anus”, think about…

  2. Can we use it for MJF with PA 12 material? or Do you have any design for this?

    1. Contact Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics, and Cybernetics: https://3dprintingcenter.net/2020/03/19/scientists-from-the-czech-technical-university-in-prague-are-working-on-protective-masks-3d-printed-on-hp-in-mjf-technology/. They are working on their own design, and are making it with MJF technology.

  3. Please send STL file

  4. Anyone know what happened to the site?

    1. Most likely too much traffic and servers are down. Not the first time during last couple of days.

      1. Can you please email the .stl so that I can start printing these masks. My wife is a nurse and she can help distribute them. Also would you recommend a type of resin that is compatible with the form labs printer?

        1. You should visit Copper 3D website (it is online as for now): https://copper3d.com/hackthepandemic/. However company stated there that: “We are VERY close to launching a 2.0 version of NanoHack, so we DO NOT recommend continuing to print version 1.0.” So perhaps you should wait for it…?

    2. can anyone share the STL files from a mirror or secondary source?

  5. Could an antibacterial coating be sprayed on a normal pla printed part and effectively achieving the same result?

  6. garbage. Good luck forming it. Tried twice. Wouldn’t bet my life on it – which is what you’re doing,

    1. It was super easy to form. First I formed the bottom seam and the nose seam and the general shape in hot water, then i friction welded the seams, put back in hot water and made an airtight seal to my face with it.

      1. Did you guys work out how to mold the nose piece on each of the files?

  7. I hacked an adapter to use industrial respirator N95, P95, and R95 prefilters with the Copper3D design, https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4236215/

  8. Don’t know why everyone go for this Copper 3D mask. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4177128 make more sense than any hardshell mask.

  9. My mom sews, specifications on gowns would be good, and share them widely. Many quilters ready to get in the game. Make them washable, reusable.

    1. This is a site for 3Dprinting though, you can find gown patterns other places.

  10. Download files are not there – where can you download them from now?

  11. Can you create smaller stl files that we can seal because this is too big for my build plate (and many others with small printers)?

  12. That design is brilliant. Why not use it as a pattern to cut up filters to make masks that would more likely work for healthcare workers?

  13. Great Idea, and perhaps works for emergency cases and short duration, but for health care workers who will have to wear it for a long time every day I don’t think this design is working. The real magic is in the filament they produce which is great. Has anyone tested other masks available online that work better?

  14. Arquivo para download foi removido.

  15. Muchas gracias por vuestra aportación! Si es necesario, puedo ponerme a imprimirlas para quien las necesite.
    Saludos y ánimo!

  16. Will normal Pla filament work or do you need a more flexible material?

    1. I would also like to know if normal PLA works. I have PLA but no other materials.

      1. Just finished making one. PLA works just fine. Print it flat, fill a pot of hit water from the tap use tongs to dunk the mask in the water till its soft, then immediately take it out, grab it and form it to your face. Afterwards you can use hot glue or a 3d printing pen to seal the bottom of the mask.

      2. You would need antibacterial pla dont use regular

        1. Antibacterials don’t kill viruses

      3. Normal PLA is not the best idea. It’s not the actual material but the fact that it’s not antimicrobial so your going to trap bacteria between the layers.

        The copper3d PLA filiment has copper particles which are naturally resistant to bacteria. There are other brands of antimicrobial filiments as well but not as many.

        1. Could you not use PLA for shorter periods of time, disassemble and sterilize the mask in bleach/ethonol? Reassemble with new filters and keep using it?

        2. Guys. Viruses and bacteria are two different things. If you aren’t an expert don’t offer opinions that just spread misinformation.

          1. The point isn’t it’s going to kill the virus. It’s that bacteria will colonize the mask…

  17. I don’t recommend this model, it is very difficult to shape according to the face.

    1. Glue in some sponge rubber on the edge, then it fits; O)

    2. Also it’s worded EXACTLY the same as Ibrahim’s post. Funny that.

      1. Theres a push from people to demonize anyone trying to make or wear masks ever since that early MSM/social media blue checkmarks ran a disinformation campaign about masks being harmful because western governments realised there’s no masks and don’t want people to panic and buy the few that are that medical staff need.

  18. I don’t recommend this model, it is very difficult to shape according to the face.

    1. Which do you recommend?

    2. Is there a better one?

  19. Where do we get the filter material?

    1. vacuum cleaner bag

      1. What type of vacuum bag?

    2. HEPA filters will filter particles the size of the virus. That means furnace filters, vacuum bags, air purifier, or shop vacuum filters will work. You just have to pull it apart and flatten it out.

      1. N-95 means filters out 95% of 0.3 µm
        HEPA = N-100 means filters out 99.97% of µm particles
        you can buy HEPA pleated shop vac filters, but going to be very hard to get filter paper out to make circular filters for these masks.

        Most shop vac filters closer to 80% efficient. Most furnace filters probably around 50 — 75% efficient. Most furnace filter manufacturers use their own ratings which are hard to find data that cross references to industry / NIOSH / air filter standards.

        1. For home HVAC filters, a MERV 13 rating filters out virus particulates.
          A pleated Aprilaire (or other brand) filter rated at MERV 13 could provide a massive amount of filter material.

    3. Where do we get the material or the mask ?

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