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Natural polypeptides treat pollution complex: Moisture-resistant multi-functional protein nanofabrics for sustainable air filtration

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Abstract

Development of “green” multi-functional air filters with features such as excellent filtration efficiency, eco-friendliness, and environmental stability are critically required to address the increasing concerns of polluted air. Natural proteins, such as soy protein and gelatin, are attractive candidates as multi-functional air-filtration materials owing to the rich functional groups; however, these bio-materials are vulnerable to moisture, which limits their broad application in practice. In this work, a hydrophobic protein of zein derived from abundant corn is modified for the first time to produce high-performance nanofilters via electrospinning. The zein nanofabrics are fabricated with the aid of a non-toxic solvent and co-electrospinning agent, poly(ethylene oxide). The results reveal that the zein-based nanofabrics show high efficiency for the simultaneous removal of particulate matters of different sizes ranging from 0.1 to 10 μm (>99.5%) and certain gaseous toxic chemicals (>70%). In addition, the zein nanofabrics show excellent moisture-resistance and good adhesion to the cellulose paper towel used as the air-filter substrate. This study demonstrates that nanofabrics based on hydrophobic natural proteins such as zein are promising materials for developing multi-functional “green” air filters.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51373004) and Beijing Top Young Innovative Talents Program (No. 2014000026833ZK13). This work was also partly supported by USDA NIFA 2015-67021-22911.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Material and Mechanical Engineering, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, 100048, China

    Huafeng Tian & Aimin Xiang

  2. School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, 99164, USA

    Xuewei Fu, Min Zheng, Yu Wang & Wei-Hong Zhong

  3. School of Aerospace Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 430074, Wuhan, China

    Yichao Li

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  1. Huafeng Tian
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Correspondence to Yu Wang or Wei-Hong Zhong.

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Natural polypeptides treat pollution complex: Moisture-resistant multi-functional protein nanofabrics for sustainable air filtration

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Tian, H., Fu, X., Zheng, M. et al. Natural polypeptides treat pollution complex: Moisture-resistant multi-functional protein nanofabrics for sustainable air filtration. Nano Res. 11, 4265–4277 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-018-2013-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-018-2013-0

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