Air pollution is a rising global concern with detrimental
effects
on public health and the environment. The widespread proliferation
of PET bottles has reached alarming levels, underscoring the urgent
need to recycle PET bottle waste. Due to the very limited work being
conducted on silk fabric and PET bottles, this approach addresses
the pressing issue of air pollution and offers the dual benefit of
reducing waste and conserving valuable resources. In this study, postconsumer
PET bottles were upcycled to fabricate nanocoated silk functional
fabrics incorporated with green-synthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs)
by an electrospinning technique. The morphology of the functional
fabric was observed using SEM, revealing the formation of regular
nanofibers with the diameter ranging from 204.6 to 228.7 nm. The silk
fabric with PET–Ag nanocoating on both sides (SPA) and the
silk fabric with PET nanocoating on one side (SP) both had outstanding
particle filtration efficiency (PFE) values of 97.8 and 96.4%, respectively.
Differential pressure (DP) testing, conducted following the EN14683
standard, revealed pressure drops of 28.7 Pa for SP and 29.4 Pa for
SPA, which are under the accepted limit. Furthermore, the mechanical
properties of the developed sample were evaluated using a universal
strength tester, revealing a maximum force of 157.47 N and a tensile
strength of 57.26 MPa for SPA, indicating its excellent mechanical
characteristics. The antibacterial properties of SPA samples were
evaluated through agar disc diffusion experiments against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia
coli bacteria. The zone of inhibition (ZOI) measured
against these bacteria was 15.3 ± 1 and 12 ± 1 mm, respectively,
demonstrating the antibacterial functionality of the functional fabric.
The FTIR spectra confirmed the presence of constituent components
of the developed sample. All these results highlight the promising
potential of the developed nanocoated silk functional fabric as a
next-generation air filter.