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Toward high-performance fibrillated cellulose-based air filter via constructing spider-web-like structure with the aid of TBA during freeze-drying process

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Abstract

In consideration of the healthcare issues caused by Particulate Matter (PM) pollution, developing high-performance air-filter materials especially aiming at filtering PM2.5 has attracted great attention. In this work, we fabricated a novel air filter with spider-web-like structure based on renewable and biodegradable fibrillated cellulose fibers, and demonstrated an effective strategy for network structure regulation during freeze-drying process. The results showed that the air filter with spider-web-like structure, whose filtration efficiency for model PM particles with the diameter of 300 nm could exceed 99%, was obtained from a fibrillated cellulose fiber/water/Tert-Butyl Alcohol (TBA) mixture by freeze-drying. The role of TBA in the construction of spider-web-like structure was mainly due to the following two aspects: (1) TBA molecules could promote the separation of microfibrils which acted as the cobwebs in spider-web-like structure. (2) The presence of TBA resulted in air filter transformed from lamellar porous architecture into spider-web-like structure by changing the morphologies and growth kinetics of ice-crystals. Herein, this work paves a way to fabricate high-performance air filters based on renewable materials and the pore-formation mechanism can provide a guide for structure regulation in porous materials.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from National Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31670593), State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering (201601), State Key Laboratory for modification of chemical fibers and polymer materials (LK1601), Shaanxi Province as a Whole the Innovation Project of Science and Technology Plan Projects (2016KTCQ01-87), Education Department of Shaanxi Provincial Government (15JF012), and Science and Technology Department of Shaanxi Province (2015KJXX-34). We appreciate Suzhou Huada Instrument and Equipment LTD. very much for friendly providing tests for us.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. College of Bioresources Chemical and Materials Engineering, Shaanxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Papermaking Technology and Specialty Paper Development, Key Laboratory of Paper Based Functional Materials of China National Light Industry, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xi’an, 710021, China

      Zhaoqing Lu, Zhiping Su, Shunxi Song, Yongsheng Zhao, Shanshan Ma & Meiyun Zhang

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    1. Zhaoqing Lu
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    2. Zhiping Su
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    3. Shunxi Song
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    4. Yongsheng Zhao
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    Correspondence to Yongsheng Zhao or Meiyun Zhang.

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    Zhaoqing Lu and Zhiping Su have contributed equally to this work.

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    Lu, Z., Su, Z., Song, S. et al. Toward high-performance fibrillated cellulose-based air filter via constructing spider-web-like structure with the aid of TBA during freeze-drying process. Cellulose 25, 619–629 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-017-1561-x

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