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High-performance Electret and Antibacterial Polypropylene Meltblown Nonwoven Materials Doped with Boehmite and ZnO Nanoparticles for Air Filtration

Fibers and Polymers volume 23, pages 1947–1955 (2022)Cite this article

Abstract

The current pandemic caused by COVID-19 has intensively triggered the development of high-performance air filters. Polypropylene (PP) is widely used as the raw material of meltblown nonwoven materials and is the core layer in air filters, such as masks. In this study, an electret PP meltblown nonwoven with antibacterial activity was developed, and nano boehmite (AlOOH) and nano-ZnO were employed as electret and antibacterial agents, respectively. AlOOH (0.5–2.0 wt%) and ZnO (1.0 wt%) were doped into the PP matrix using a twin-screw extruder, and the resulting masterbatches were applied as raw materials to produce nonwoven materials via a meltblown process. The as-prepared nonwoven samples were characterized by means of SEM, IR and DSC/TG. After corona charging, the filtration efficiency was determined by a filtration tester, charge decay was measured by an infrared electrostatic tester, and the antibacterial properties were evaluated (evaluation method: AATCC 100–2012). A dosage of AlOOH greater than 1.0 wt% endowed the nonwoven material with high filtration efficiency, and 1.0 wt% ZnO brought about antibacterial activity. Corona charging was an effective means to charge the nonwoven electret, and the charges were quicker to decay in air than in a sealed bag. The as-prepared meltblown nonwoven filter is a remarkably promising filter for air filtration.

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Acknowledgments

We appreciate the financial support of the Major R&D Projects in Shandong Province (grant no. 2019JZZY020220) and the Open Fund of State Key Laboratory of Bio-Fibers and Eco-Textiles.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contribute equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shandong Center for Engineered Nonwovens, Industrial Research Institute of Nonwovens & Technical Textiles, College of Textiles & Clothing, Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266071, Shandong, China

    Ming-Chao Han, Hong-Wei He, Wei-Kang Kong, Kun Dong, Bang-Ying Wang, Xu Yan, Li-Ming Wang & Xin Ning

  2. State Key Laboratory of Bio-Fibers and Eco-Textiles, Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266071, Shandong, China

    Hong-Wei He, Xu Yan & Xin Ning

Authors
  1. Ming-Chao Han
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  2. Hong-Wei He
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  3. Wei-Kang Kong
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  4. Kun Dong
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  5. Bang-Ying Wang
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  6. Xu Yan
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  7. Li-Ming Wang
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  8. Xin Ning
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Hong-Wei He or Xin Ning.

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The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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12221_2022_4786_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

High-performance electret and antibacterial polypropylene meltblown nonwovens doped with nanoparticles of boehmite and ZnO for air filtration

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Han, MC., He, HW., Kong, WK. et al. High-performance Electret and Antibacterial Polypropylene Meltblown Nonwoven Materials Doped with Boehmite and ZnO Nanoparticles for Air Filtration. Fibers Polym 23, 1947–1955 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12221-022-4786-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12221-022-4786-8

Keywords

  • Polypropylene
  • Meltblown nonwoven
  • Electret materials
  • Filtration
  • Antibacterial materials