Morphology controlled porous poly(lactic acid)/zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 fibrous membranes with superior PM2.5 capture capacity

In this work, the nanoparticles of zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) are incorporated into poly (lactic acid) (PLA) to prepare porous electrospun membranes. The morphology, mechanical property as well as the PM capture process and capacity of the membranes are studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), BET test, X-ray diffraction (XRD), tensile test, Fourier infrared spectra (FT-IR), UV–visible spectra, thermogravimetric analyses (TGA) and photoelectron spectroscope (XPS), systematically. The results demonstrate that the diameter and nanoscale porous structure of fibres can be successfully controlled by changing the content ZIF-8. The PLA/ZIF-8 membranes show better mechanical property compared with pure PLA membrane. The PM capture measurement demonstrates that the PLA/ZIF-8 porous membranes exhibit significantly enhanced PM2.5 removal efficiency compared to that of the pure PLA membrane. The prepared porous membranes also show low pressure drops and good recycling performance.