Synthesis of CTAB-Functionalized Large-Scale Nanofibers Air Filter Media for Efficient PM<sub>2.5</sub> Capture Capacity with Low Airflow Resistance
Agasthiyaraj Lakshmanan, Deepak S. Gavali, Ranjit Thapa, Debabrata Sarkar
Abstract
Ambient particulate matter air pollution has become a serious environmental issue and poses grave threats to public health globally. The indoor and outdoor air protection could be achieved by filtering devices and facial masks. The development of air filter to eliminate particulate matter pollution from the air is necessary for human safety. To realize this, here a class of nanofiber air filter is reported with high efficiency and very low pressure drop. By controlling the surface chemistry through cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, it is achieved a >99.9% removal efficiency under extreme hazardous air-quality conditions for PM2.5 with quality factor of 0.469 Pa–1 and low ∼11 Pa pressure drop. The dipole moment and intermolecular interaction between the nanofibers and PM2.5 are investigated by density functional theory calculations. A long-term 15 day filtration test has proven that the nanofiber air filter maintains an excellent efficiency of 99%. This work pushes forward a significant step toward the design and development of high efficiency and a very low pressure drop air filter for various applications.