School of Fashion & Textiles, RMIT University, Brunswick, Victoria 3056, Australia; Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) - Manufacturing, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia; ICAR-Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute, Rajasthan 304501, India.
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) - Manufacturing, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia.
J Hazard Mater. 2021 Feb 5;403:123841. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.123841. Epub 2020 Sep 3.
Air pollution is a universal concern. The suspended solid/liquid particles in the air and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are ubiquitous. Synthetic polymer-based air filter media not only has disposal issues but also is a source of air and water pollution at the end of their life cycle. It has been a challenge to filter both particulate matter and VOC pollutants by a common biodegradable filter media having low air resistance. This study reports gelatin/β-cyclodextrin composite nanofiber mats with dual function air filtration ability at reduced air resistance (148 Pa) and low basis weight (1 g/m²). Gelatin/β-cyclodextrin nanofibers captured aerosols (0.3-5 μm) with < 95% filtration efficiency at 0.029/Pa quality factor. They adsorbed great amount of xylene (287 mg/g), benzene (242 mg/g), and formaldehyde (0.75 mg/g) VOCs. VOC adsorption of gelatin/β-cyclodextrin nanofibers is found several times higher than a commercial face mask and pristine powder samples. This study provides a solution for a 'green' dual function respiratory air filtration at low resistance. Gelatin/β-cyclodextrin nanofibers also have the potential to filter nano-sized viruses.
空气污染是一个全球性的问题。空气中的悬浮固体/液体颗粒和挥发性有机化合物（VOCs）无处不在。基于合成聚合物的空气过滤介质不仅存在处理问题，而且在其生命周期结束时也是空气和水污染的源头。通过具有低空气阻力的通用可生物降解过滤介质同时过滤颗粒物和 VOC 污染物一直是一个挑战。本研究报道了具有双重功能的空气过滤能力的明胶/β-环糊精复合纳米纤维垫，其空气阻力降低（148 Pa），基重低（1 g/m²）。明胶/β-环糊精纳米纤维以 < 95%的过滤效率捕获了 0.3-5 μm 的气溶胶，其质量因子为 0.029/Pa。它们吸附了大量的二甲苯（287 mg/g）、苯（242 mg/g）和甲醛（0.75 mg/g）VOC。明胶/β-环糊精纳米纤维对 VOC 的吸附能力比商业口罩和原始粉末样品高几倍。本研究为低阻力的“绿色”双重功能呼吸空气过滤提供了一种解决方案。明胶/β-环糊精纳米纤维还有可能过滤纳米级病毒。
