Charged graphene aerogel filter enabled superior particulate matter removal efficiency in harsh environment

Fine particles pose a dangerous threat to our environment and human health. Although a series of air filters have been developed, to achieve high removal efficiency while maintaining a low pressure drop is still a challenging task. Herein, we introduce an additional force into action – the space charge when designing the filter to capture the particulate matters (PMs). The corona discharge drives the PMs toward graphene aerogel filter under the imposed electrostatic force. The prepared filter displays a very high PM removal efficiency and low pressure drop under an extremely high concentration (>10000 μg/m3) of both non-oily particles (>99.9%) and oily particles (>99.6%). In addition, the filter also has the advantages of being active, reusable, and flame-retardant. This charged graphene aerogel filter (CGAF) is very stable and can withstand 10 times washing and 5-min burning.