Effects of surface morphology of electrospun polystyrene fiber on its air filtration performance

Abstract

A series of membranes, made from polystyrene microfibers and with different morphologies, were fabricated via electrospinning method in this study. In addition, not only porous fibers but also beaded fibers were obtained by adjusting the experimental temperature in a reasonable and appropriate way. Assisted by a high-speed camera, the images of jet behaviors at different experimental temperatures were captured for the purpose of in-depth and comprehensive understanding of formation mechanism of different fiber morphologies. Mono-disperse sodium chloride aerosol particles with different sizes and cigarette smoke were used, for the attainment of the objective of evaluation on the filtration performance of fabricated membranes. The experimental results showed that straight fiber with narrow pores on its surface can be obtained at 20°C spinning temperature because of the rapid jet motion and solvent evaporation, and also, beaded fibers can be fabricated in the situation of spinning temperature higher than 25°C due to the sudden change of surface tension resulted from the fast solvent evaporation. The porous straight fibers exhibited excellent filtration performance to cigarette smoke and aerosol containing particles of all sizes (99.76%, 99.92%, and 99.99% filtration efficiency for particles with sizes of 0.3 µm, 0.5 µm, and 1 µm, respectively).