Fiber-in-Tube Electrifiable Structure for Virus Filtration Self-Generated Static Electricity by Vibration/Sound.

Abstract

Fiber has been considered as an ideal material for virus insulation due to the readily available electrostatic adsorption. However, restricted by the electrostatic attenuation and filtration performance decline, their long-lasting applications are unable to satisfy the requirements of medical protective equipment for major medical and health emergencies such as global epidemics, which results in both a waste of resources and environmental pollution. We overcame these issues by constructing a fiber-in-tube structure, achieving the robust reusability of fibrous membranes. Core fibers within the hollow could form generators with tube walls of shell fibers to provide persistent, renewable static electricity via piezoelectricity and triboelectricity. The PM0.3 insulation efficiency achieved 98% even after 72 h of humidity and heat aging, through beating and acoustic waves, which is greatly improved compared with that of traditional nonwoven fabric (∼10% insulation). A mask spun with our fiber also has a low breathing resistance (differential pressure <24.4 Pa/cm2). We offer an approach to enrich multifunctional fiber for developing electrifiable filters, which make the fiber-in-tube filtration membrane able to durably maintain a higher level of protective performance to reduce the replacement and provide a new train of thought for the preparation of other high-performance protective products.