Hierarchically Structured Cellulose Acetate/Poly(Ethylene Oxide)/Polyamide-6 Nanofiber Membrane Prepared by One-step Electrospinning for Air Filtration

Designing high-efficiency electrospun fiber membranes with low resistance is in great need to deal with particulate matter air pollution issues. Herein, a hierarchical structure cellulose acetate/poly(ethylene oxide)/polyamide-6 (CA/PEO/PA-6) fiber membrane induced by multiphase separation was constructed through one-step electrospinning for high-performance air filtration. The number proportion of superfine nanofibers with a diameter less than 100 nm in the CA/PEO/PA-6 fiber membrane was 74.4%, which enabled the membrane to achieve excellent filtration performance at a low areal density. The membrane with an areal density of 0.86 g/m2 had a quality factor of 0.059 Pa–1 and a filtration efficiency of 96.7% at an airflow velocity of 32 L/min, while the pressure drop was only 58 Pa. Meanwhile, the membrane maintained an excellent filtration performance at a higher airflow velocity, exhibiting a better performance than the KN90 mask. These results reveal that the hierarchical structure CA/PEO/PA-6 fiber membrane can be deployed as a high-performance air filtration material.