Filtration efficiency investigation of mesh fabrics by polytetrafluoroethylene filament with surface static electricity

Abstract

Particulate matter (PM) pollution has become a severe environmental problem. The application of some static electric materials with high filtration efficiency became more and more popular. However, the escape of surface voltage was unbeneficial to the long-term application of this material. Herein, this research reported novel static electric materials polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and tourmaline. With the application of these two materials, a kind of fabric with high surface electricity, filtration efficiency, long-term stability and low pressure drop was exploited. This fabric was woven by PTFE filaments containing tourmaline particles of four different content and particle size. By means of the surface electricity and filtration efficiency measurement, the fabric containing 7 wt % tourmaline particles possessed the largest surface electricity of 830 V, as well as highest filtration efficiency of 75.6%. In addition, a model of electric field distribution in filament and fabrics were both proposed by the static electricity test to interpret the mechanism of filtration. The successful fabrication of such an intriguing material might provide a new application for the electret materials for PM removing.