ABSTRACT
The demand for air filtration products has increased significantly with the aggravation of air pollution and the pandemic of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). It is urgently needed to develop an air filtration membrane that exhibits lasting filtration performance and antibacterial activity. Herein, we report a large-scale blow spinning technique to produce polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanofiber membranes for highly efficient air mechanical filtration and its antibacterial modification by adding the silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The PVDF nanofiber membrane with an area density of only 1.0 g/m2 exhibits the highest filtration efficiency of 98.63% for the particle with a size of 0.3 μm. After eliminating static electricity, there is almost no reduction in the filtration efficiency of particulate matter with a size larger than 1 μm and only 4.69% decrease in the particulate matter with a size of 0.5 μm. Hence, the PVDF nanofiber membrane with nanostructures for air filtration works mainly by the means of mechanical filtration. To inhibit the survival or growth of the intercepted bacteria on the membrane, the PVDF/AgNPs nanofiber membrane was fabricated by adding AgNPs to PVDF nanofibers, which exhibits the strongest antibacterial activity of more than 99% and an excellent filtration efficiency similar to that without adding AgNPs. The nanofiber membrane with antibacterial activity is expected to extend the service or storage time or be reused without loss of filtration performance. Additionally, large-scale production of nanofiber filtration membranes has been realized using a multi-needle blow spinning machine. © 2022 American Chemical Society.