Nanoporous Atomically Thin Graphene Filters for Nanoscale Aerosols
Peifu Cheng, Jeremy R. Bairan Espano, Andrew Harkaway, Andrew E. Naclerio, Nicole K. Moehring, Philipp Braeuninger‐Weimer, Piran R. Kidambi
Abstract
Filtering nanoparticulate aerosols from air streams is important for a wide range of personal protection equipment (PPE), including masks used for medical research, healthcare, law enforcement, first responders, and military applications. Conventional PPEs capable of filtering nanoparticles <300 nm are typically bulky and sacrifice breathability to maximize protection from exposure to harmful nanoparticulate aerosols including viruses ∼20–300 nm from air streams. Here, we show that nanopores introduced into centimeter-scale monolayer graphene supported on polycarbonate track-etched supports via a facile oxygen plasma etch can allow for filtration of aerosolized SiO2 nanoparticles of ∼5–20 nm from air steams while maintaining air permeance of ∼2.28–7.1 × 10–5 mol m–2 s–1 Pa–1. Furthermore, a systematic increase in oxygen plasma etch time allows for a tunable size-selective filtration of aerosolized nanoparticles. We demonstrate a new route to realize ultra-compact, lightweight, and conformal form-factor filters capable of blocking sub-20 nm aerosolized nanoparticles with particular relevance for biological/viral threat mitigation.