Biodegradable and Reusable Cellulose-Based Nanofiber Membrane Preparation for Mask Filter by Electrospinning

Abstract

Environmentally friendly face masks with high filtration efficiency are in urgent need to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as other airborne viruses, bacteria and particulate matters. In this study, coaxial electrospinning was employed to fabricate a lithium chloride enhanced cellulose acetate/thermoplastic polyurethanes (CA/TPU-LiCl) face mask nanofiber filtration membrane, which was biodegradable and reusable. The analysis results show that the CA/TPU-LiCl membrane had an excellent filtration performance: when the filtration efficiency reached 99.8%, the pressure drop was only 52 Pa. The membrane also had an outstanding reusability. The filtration performance maintained at 98.2% after 10 test cycles, and an alcohol immersion disinfection treatment showed no effect on its filtration performance. In summary, the CA/TPU-LiCl nanofiber membrane made in this work is a promising biodegradable and reusable filtration material with a wide range of potential applications, including high-performance face mask.

Recent advances and future perspectives in engineering biodegradable face masks

“…CA blended with thermoplastic polyurethane and lithium chloride (CA/TPU–LiCl) has shown promises for the development of reusable filtration material with a high filtration efficiency of 98.2% even after 10 test cycles and one alcohol disinfection. 90 The pressure drop (52 Pa) reported for the nanofibers with an average diameter from 220 nm to 390 nm was comparable with the level 3 face mask standard.…”

Nude and Modified Electrospun Nanofibers, Application to Air Purification

“…The electrospinning was carried out with a flow rate of 1 mL h −1 , needle-collector distance of 18 cm, voltage of 20 kV, speed of the rotary collector of 200 rpm, at a temperature of 27 °C. The membrane achieved a filtration efficiency of 99.8%, and a pressure drop of 52 Pa. Additionally, it was stable and reusable [ 170 ].…”

Preparation and Characterization of Microporous Cellulose Membranes as Potential Pathogen Filters

“…Synthetic filter membranes typically take about 450 years to degrade, damaging the ecosystems as they degrade. (Fan et al 2018;Wang et al 2021). Various techniques for the fabrication of filter membranes have been reported, including melt-blown polypropylene (PP) and non-woven fabrics (Selvaranjan et al 2021;Song et al 2022).…”