Development of Efficient Antimicrobial Zinc Oxide Modified Montmorillonite Incorporated Polyacrylonitrile Nanofibers for Particulate Matter Filtration

Fabrication and Application of Halloysite Nanotube-Embedded Photocatalytic Nanofibers with Antibacterial Properties

“…It was observed that with the increasing ZnO–Mt ratio in the fabricated nanofibers, the value of QF increased initially and then a decrease was found. While the QF value in bare PAN filters was 0.0012, it was recorded as 0.0014, 0.0082, 0.0259, and 0.0009 for 0.25%, 0.5, 0.75, and 1 ZnO–Mt ratios, respectively …”

“…The position of the valence band of ZnO is lower than that of TiO 2 , so the oxidation potential of the hydroxyl radical produced by ZnO is higher than that of the hydroxyl radical produced by TiO 2 . Three mechanisms have been described for the antibacterial activity of ZnO . The destruction of the cell wall of ZnO takes place when it comes into contact with bacteria, the release of Zn 2+ ions, and the formation of reactive oxygen species (Bansal and Purwar, 2021).…”

“…While the QF value in bare PAN filters was 0.0012, it was recorded as 0.0014, 0.0082, 0.0259, and 0.0009 for 0.25%, 0.5, 0.75, and 1 ZnO−Mt ratios, respectively. 21 3.4. Antibacterial Activity of Nanofibers.…”

“…The bacterial cell in direct contact with the fibrous matrix was destructed since the ZnO nanoparticles were not released from the polymeric matrix into the agar medium due to weak bond between acrylonitrile and Zn cations. 21 Antibacterial effectiveness were further evaluated by plate counting method for bare, HNT, HNT/TiO 2 , and HNT/ZnO additive filters as shown in Figure 8a. Antibacterial activity (% reduction and log reduction) of nanofibers was calculated using eqs 4 and 5 after 240 min of contact time (Figure 8).…”

“…Many natural and synthetic polymers such as polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polyamide (PA), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyethersulfone, polyvinyl chloride, polycarbonate (PC), polyurethane (PU), polyvinylidene fluoride, cellulose (CA), chitosan (CS), and protein are preferred as bare and composite materials in the indoor air filter fabrication with the electrospinning process. ,,− Among these polymers, especially, PAN stands out and it is a semicrystalline polymer and has high thermal stability, resistance to most solvents, widely used commercially, easily spinnable, and frequently used in air filtration. − PAN polymer has a good compatibility with many nanoadditives. ,− Some metal oxides have been preferred in the fabrication of PAN nanofibers to achieve the photocatalytic properties and antibacterial capabilities of filters . The wide-use materials that impart photocatalytic properties to nanofibers are ZnS, CdS, Fe 2 O 3 , WO 3 , and TiO 2 .…”