Enhanced Filtration Efficiency of Natural Materials with the Addition of Electrospun Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) Fibres
Pollutants and infectious diseases can spread through air with airborne droplets and aerosols. A respiratory mask can decrease the amount of pollutants we inhale and it can protect us from airborne diseases. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, masks became an everyday item used by a lot of peop...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Materials |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/16/6/2314 |
| _version_ | 1797610425072746496 |
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| author | Gregor Filipič Luka Pirker Anja Pogačnik Krajnc Marjan Ješelnik Maja Remškar |
| author_facet | Gregor Filipič Luka Pirker Anja Pogačnik Krajnc Marjan Ješelnik Maja Remškar |
| author_sort | Gregor Filipič |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Pollutants and infectious diseases can spread through air with airborne droplets and aerosols. A respiratory mask can decrease the amount of pollutants we inhale and it can protect us from airborne diseases. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, masks became an everyday item used by a lot of people around the world. As most of them are for a single use, the amount of non-recyclable waste increased dramatically. The plastic from which the masks are made pollutes the environment with various chemicals and microplastic. Here, we investigated the time- and size-dependent filtration efficiency (FE) of aerosols in the range of 25.9 to 685.4 nm of five different natural materials whose FE was enhanced using electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF) fibres. A scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to determine the morphology and structure of the natural materials as well as the thickness of the PVDF fibres, while the phase of the electrospun fibres was determined by Raman spectroscopy. A thin layer of the electrospun PVDF fibres with the same grammage was sandwiched between two sheets of natural materials, and their FE increased up to 80%. By varying the grammature of the electrospun polymer, we tuned the FE of cotton from 82.6 to 99.9%. Thus, through the optimization of the grammage of the electrospun polymer, the amount of plastic used in the process can be minimized, while achieving sufficiently high FE. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T06:15:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2b603890b26b46cdabb7ed842588fc0c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1944 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T06:15:05Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Materials |
| spelling | doaj.art-2b603890b26b46cdabb7ed842588fc0c2023-11-17T12:20:31ZengMDPI AGMaterials1996-19442023-03-01166231410.3390/ma16062314Enhanced Filtration Efficiency of Natural Materials with the Addition of Electrospun Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) FibresGregor Filipič0Luka Pirker1Anja Pogačnik Krajnc2Marjan Ješelnik3Maja Remškar4Jozef Stefan Institute, Jamova Cesta 39, 1000 Ljubljana, SloveniaJozef Stefan Institute, Jamova Cesta 39, 1000 Ljubljana, SloveniaJozef Stefan Institute, Jamova Cesta 39, 1000 Ljubljana, SloveniasmartMelamine d.o.o., Tomšičeva Cesta 9, 1330 Kočevje, SloveniaJozef Stefan Institute, Jamova Cesta 39, 1000 Ljubljana, SloveniaPollutants and infectious diseases can spread through air with airborne droplets and aerosols. A respiratory mask can decrease the amount of pollutants we inhale and it can protect us from airborne diseases. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, masks became an everyday item used by a lot of people around the world. As most of them are for a single use, the amount of non-recyclable waste increased dramatically. The plastic from which the masks are made pollutes the environment with various chemicals and microplastic. Here, we investigated the time- and size-dependent filtration efficiency (FE) of aerosols in the range of 25.9 to 685.4 nm of five different natural materials whose FE was enhanced using electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF) fibres. A scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to determine the morphology and structure of the natural materials as well as the thickness of the PVDF fibres, while the phase of the electrospun fibres was determined by Raman spectroscopy. A thin layer of the electrospun PVDF fibres with the same grammage was sandwiched between two sheets of natural materials, and their FE increased up to 80%. By varying the grammature of the electrospun polymer, we tuned the FE of cotton from 82.6 to 99.9%. Thus, through the optimization of the grammage of the electrospun polymer, the amount of plastic used in the process can be minimized, while achieving sufficiently high FE.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/16/6/2314filtration efficiencyelectrospun fibresaerosolsmasksPVDF |
| spellingShingle | Gregor Filipič Luka Pirker Anja Pogačnik Krajnc Marjan Ješelnik Maja Remškar Enhanced Filtration Efficiency of Natural Materials with the Addition of Electrospun Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) Fibres Materials filtration efficiency electrospun fibres aerosols masks PVDF |
| title | Enhanced Filtration Efficiency of Natural Materials with the Addition of Electrospun Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) Fibres |
| title_full | Enhanced Filtration Efficiency of Natural Materials with the Addition of Electrospun Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) Fibres |
| title_fullStr | Enhanced Filtration Efficiency of Natural Materials with the Addition of Electrospun Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) Fibres |
| title_full_unstemmed | Enhanced Filtration Efficiency of Natural Materials with the Addition of Electrospun Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) Fibres |
| title_short | Enhanced Filtration Efficiency of Natural Materials with the Addition of Electrospun Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) Fibres |
| title_sort | enhanced filtration efficiency of natural materials with the addition of electrospun poly vinylidene fluoride co hexafluoropropylene fibres |
| topic | filtration efficiency electrospun fibres aerosols masks PVDF |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/16/6/2314 |
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