One-Step Fast Fabrication of Electrospun Fiber Membranes for Efficient Particulate Matter Removal

Abstract

Rapid social and industrial development has resulted in an increasing demand for fossil fuel energy, which increases particulate matter (PM) pollution. In this study, we employed a simple one-step electrospinning technique to fabricate polysulfone (PSF) fiber membranes for PM filtration. A 0.3 g/mL polymer solution with an N,N-dimethylformamide:tetrahydrofuran volume ratio of 3:1 yielded uniform and bead-free PSF fibers with a diameter of approximately 1.17 μm. The PSF fiber membrane exhibited excellent hydrophobicity and mechanical properties, including a tensile strength of 1.14 MPa and an elongation at break of 116.6%. Finally, the PM filtration performance of the PSF fiber membrane was evaluated. The filtration efficiencies of the membrane for PM2.5 and PM1.0 were approximately 99.6% and 99.2%, respectively. The pressure drops were 65.0 and 65.2 Pa, which were significantly lower than those of commercial air filters. Using this technique, PSF fiber membrane filters can be easily fabricated over a large area, which is promising for numerous air filtration systems.