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Three-dimensional multi-scale membrane for efficient air filtration performances: preparation, optimization and characterization

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Abstract

Environmental pollution, especially air pollution, seriously endangers public health globally, air filtration materials become a research hotspot. Here, novel polyurethane (PU)/polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)@ polypropylene (PP) multi-scale membranes were fabricated by a lamination process of electrospinning and melt-blown methods. The nanofibers membrane and microfibers membrane were prepared and optimized under various parameter. These morphologies and structures of the prepared multi-scale membranes were characterized by SEM, EDS and FT-IR. And the static water contact angle was tested to evaluate the hydrophobicity. Air filtration tests were operated to determine the optimum membranes for air filtration application. The air filtration results showed that the multi-scale PF1@PP60 membranes had highly air filtration efficiency (96.72%) and quality factor (0.04167 Pa−1) which can be obtained by only electrospinning 60 min. The successful preparation of multi-scale membranes provides a new way for the design and development of electrospinning air filtration membranes. And this multi-scale membrane provides a new strategy for the preparation of an air filter with excellent comprehensive filtration performance of high filtration efficiency and low pressure drop for large-scale production.

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Data Availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this article, and the data used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Science Foundation of Zhejiang Sci-Tech University (ZSTU) (21202284-Y) and the Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China (No. 23KJD540001).

Funding

Science Foundation of Zhejiang Sci-Tech University (ZSTU), 21202284-Y, Fei Sun, Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China, 23KJD540001, Qi Xiao.

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Sun, F., Zheng, Y., Liu, E. et al. Three-dimensional multi-scale membrane for efficient air filtration performances: preparation, optimization and characterization. J Polym Res 31, 75 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-024-03923-7

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