A novel high-performance and outstanding flame retardancy polysulfonamide nanofibrous filter for the high-efficiency PM2.5 filtration

Particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) pollution has severely affected human health. It is urgent and essential to remove PM2.5 from sources of pollution. However, filtration at the source of pollution remains challenging because most filters are not resistant to high temperature. Therefore, a polysulfonamide with novel molecular structure nanofiber filter in this work was developed by electrospinning technology for high-efficient air filtration. The polysulfonamide with m-phenyl substituted segments was successfully synthesized by the results of 1H NMR spectroscopy and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Moreover, the polysulfonamide nanofiber filters (PNFs) demonstrated excellent mechanical strength (7.2 MPa), high filtration efficiency (99.5 %), low pressure drop (111 Pa) for PM2.5 filter, significant thermal stability (300 °C), and excellent flame retardancy. Furthermore, the PNFs with beaded-structure had a lower pressure drop (59 Pa) because the microspheres increased the distance between the fibers. Therefore, the PNFs will have great potential in the fields of high-temperature exhaust gas filtration, water purification, and protein separation.