Titanium carbide Ti3C2Tx (MXene) enhanced PAN nanofiber membrane for air purification

Abstract

Highly effective air filters are needed because of the increasing harm caused by air particulate matter pollution. Herein, two-dimensional titanium carbide Ti3C2Tx MXene nanosheets with active surface-terminating groups (O, OH and F) were used to modify the polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofiber filters to strengthen their interaction force with PM2.5. These forces were measured quantitatively through the force-distance curve-based AFM showing that the MXene modification of the PAN fiber induces three times larger interaction forces than before. The obtained filters show high PM2.5 removal efficiency of ∼99.7% with a low pressure drop of ∼42 Pa. Moreover, the presence of MXene nanosheets strongly inhibits the propagation of bacteria (e.g. E. coli and S. aureus) in the filters. Such filters can significantly improve air quality, especially in public places such as hospitals.