Nonwoven fibrous webs containing chemically active particulates and methods of making and using same

A method of making a nonwoven fibrous web comprising:

• providing a forming chamber having an upper end and a lower end;
• introducing a plurality of discrete fibers into the upper end of the forming chamber, wherein greater than 0% and less than 10% by weight of the discrete fibers is comprised of discontinuous multi-component fibers;
• introducing a plurality of chemically active particulates into the forming chamber;
• mixing the plurality of discrete fibers with the plurality of chemically active particulates within the forming chamber to form a fibrous particulate mixture;
• transporting the fibrous particulate mixture to the lower end of the forming chamber to form a nonwoven fibrous web;
• and
• securing the chemically active particulates to the nonwoven fibrous web, wherein more than 0% and less than 10% wt. by weight of the nonwoven fibrous web is comprised of the multi-component fibers, further wherein each multi-component fiber is comprised of at least a first region having a first melting temperature and a second region having a second melting temperature, wherein the first melting temperature is less than the second melting temperature, and wherein securing the chemically active particulates to the nonwoven fibrous web comprises heating the multi-component fibers to a temperature of at least the first melting temperature and less than the second melting temperature, whereby at least a portion of the chemically active particulates are secured to the nonwoven fibrous web by bonding to the at least first region of at least a portion of the multi-component fibers, and at least a portion of the discrete fibers are bonded together at a plurality of intersection points with the first region of the multi-component fibers.