Abstract
Particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) has become a public hazard to people’s lives and health. Traditional melt-blown membranes cannot filter dangerous particles due to their limited diameter, and ultra-fine electrospinning fibers are vulnerable to external forces. Therefore, creating highly efficient air filters by using an innovative technique and structure has become necessary. In this study, a combination of polypropylene (PP) melt-blown and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/zeolite imidazole frameworks-8 (ZIF-8) electrospinning technique is employed to construct a PP/PVA/ZIF-8 membrane with a hierarchical fibrous structure. The synergistic effect of hierarchical fibrous structure and ZIF-8 effectively captures PM2.5. The PP/PVA composite membrane loaded with 2.5% loading ZIF-8 has an average filtration efficacy reaching as high as 96.5% for PM2.5 and quality factor (Qf) of 0.099 Pa−1. The resultant membrane resists 33.34 N tensile strength and has a low pressure drop, excellent filtration efficiency, and mechanical strength. This work presents a facile preparation method that is suitable for mass production and the application of membranes to be used as air filters for highly efficient filtration of PM2.5.
Highlights
In recent years, air pollution has exacerbated due to the presence of suspended minor particles that have aerodynamic diameter smaller or equal to 25 μm [1,2,3] and are prone to carry hazardous substances, such as heavy metals and microorganisms.These substances can trigger diverse diseases and threaten human health [4,5,6,7,8]
This method improves the reduction in the fineness of melt-blown fibers and realizes an even distribution of zeolite imidazole frameworks-8 (ZIF-8) in the polypropylene (PP) melt-blown membranes
The micro-structures of PP melt-blown membranes and PP/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/ZIF-8 melt-blown electrospun composite membranes were observed at different magnifications by using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) (ZEISS Gemini SEM500, Oberkochen, Germany)
Summary
Air pollution has exacerbated due to the presence of suspended minor particles that have aerodynamic diameter smaller or equal to 25 μm (i.e., particulate matter, PM2.5) [1,2,3] and are prone to carry hazardous substances, such as heavy metals and microorganisms. Melt-blown fibers with a small diameter are crossed and distributed evenly to obtain a large specific surface area. Composites membranes are defined as the merging of inorganic and organic materials to obtain enhanced membranes by joining the strengths of materials [18] This method improves the reduction in the fineness of melt-blown fibers and realizes an even distribution of zeolite imidazole frameworks-8 (ZIF-8) in the polypropylene (PP) melt-blown membranes. In 2017, Han Joo Kim et al produced silver nanoparticle-incorporated bi-layered electrospun melt-blown micro/nanofibrous products with improved filtration efficiency [19]. In this study ZIF-8, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) membrane, and PP membrane are combined via electrospinning and melt-blown technology to improve mechanical properties and filtration performance. Nanomaterials 2020, 10, 2025 with excellent structure and large specific surface area can improve the adsorption efficiency of the membrane. This work evaluated the filtration efficacy and analyzed the influences of the content of ZIF-8 and determined the optimal melt-blown filter materials for PM2.5
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