High Efficiency Poly(acrylonitrile) Electrospun Nanofiber Membranes for Airborne Nanomaterials Filtration

Abstract

The potential of poly(acrylonitrile) electrospun membranes with tuneable pore size and fiber distributions were investigated for airborne fine-particle filtration for the first time. The impact of solution concentration on final membrane properties are evaluated for the purpose of designing separation materials with higher separation efficiency. The properties of fibers and membranes are investigated systematically: the average pore distribution, as characterized by capillary flow porometry, and thermo-mechanical properties of the mats are found to be dependent on fiber diameter and on specific electrospinning conditions. Filtration efficiency and pressure drop are calculated from measurement of penetration through the membranes using potassium chloride (KCl) aerosol particles ranging from 300 nm to 12 mm diameter. The PAN membranes exhibited separation efficiencies in the range of 73.8-99.78% and a typical quality factor 0.0224 (1 Pa À1 ) for 12 wt% PAN with nanofibers having a diameter of 858 nm. Concerning air flow rate, the quality factor and filtration efficiency of the electrospun membranes at higher face velocity are much more stable than for commercial membranes. The results suggest that the structure of electrospun membranes is the best for air filtration in terms of filtration stability at high air flow rate.

Efficient nanoparticles removal and bactericidal action of electrospun nanofibers membranes for air filtration

“…Comparing these studies, it is possible to note that the filters reported in this study are composed of PAN material of small fibers diameter that probably explains the high-quality factor. In addition, a very high filtration efficiency (approximately 100% filtration efficiency) in the range of 9 to 300 nm aerosol particles diameters and quality factor (0.05) were reached by our PAN/Ag NPs filter in comparison to commercial filters (filtration efficiency less than 80% and quality factor of 0.02) reported elsewhere [17], [70], [71]. It should be noted that the face velocity, particle size, and material composition may be different in the aforementioned studies.…”

High filtration efficiency fluffy material: nano-fiber constructing gradient structure on recycled curved PET micro-fibers web

“…Electrospun nanofiber membranes possess many advantages such as interconnected open pores, small pore size, high porosity and large surface-to-volume ratio, which make them promising candidates for air filtration. Al-Attabi [10], Wang [11] and Zhang [12] found that nanofiber membranes have superior FE owing to the nano-scale fiber diameter and small pore size, but they also exhibit high airflow resistance due to the compact structure [13].…”

CFD Simulation of the Filtration Performance of Fibrous Filter Considering Fiber Electric Potential Field

“…Improving the capture efficiency of fine particles has attracted more attention because of the negative impact of fine particles on human health [1][2][3]. In particular, highefficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters need to be designed to effectively capture ultrafine particles smaller than 300 nm [4,5], which is important to produce clean breathable air and also to ensure safety in biosafety laboratories and the nuclear industry [6][7][8].…”