Tug-of-War-Inspired Bio-Based Air Filters with Advanced Filtration Performance

Integrating nanostructured active materials, antimicrobial components, and rational porous structures is one of the promising approaches for simultaneously boosting removal efficiency, antimicrobial capacity, mechanical property, hydrophobic performance, and air permeability of air filters. However, realizing these performances of an air filter still remains a big challenge. Herein, a multifunctional air filter zNFs-Ag@PT, which is composed of a unique substrate prepared from Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs)-paper towel (PT) microfibers and an upper layer formed from aligned zein nanofibers (zNFs) inspired by a “tug-of-war” repulsion force, is reported. The Ag@PT substrate is fabricated via in situ reduction; and zNFs are prepared by electrospinning a well-prepared zein Pickering emulsion onto a specially designed collector. The innovative collector is a partially conductive design composed of an insulative middle section and two conductive ends. It is demonstrated that the introduction of AgNPs not only endows the zNFs-Ag@PT filter with an effective antimicrobial activity but also provides the substrate with an anisotropic electric field to achieve stretched and aligned zein fibers forming thinner nanofibers than that without AgNPs. As a result, the filtration performances of a zNFs-Ag@PT filter are enhanced. This study initiates an effective way to fabricate bio-based multifunctional air filters with antimicrobial and filtration performances via combining nano- and biotechnology.