934
5, SEPTEMBER 2018
Electrospun SF/PVA Nanofiber Filters for
Highly Efficient PM2.5 Capture
Ye Bian , Rutao Wang, Sin Hang Ting , Chun Chen , and Li Zhang
Abstract—Particulate matter (PM) air pollution is associated
with various adverse health effects. Heavy outdoor air pollution,
especially smog, has significantly impacted the living quality of
residential environments. Here, we report the fabrication of silk
fibroin/polyvinyl alcohol (SF/PVA) nanofiber air filters for the fil-
tration of PM pollution using the electrospinning technique. Silk
fibroin is a type of protein fibers, which is widely available with
excellent environmental sustainability, and PVA is commonly used
for continuous nanofiber fabrication. Our results showed that the
PM2 .5 removal efficiency of the SF/PVA filter was 99.11 ± 0.24%,
which was about 10% higher than that of the pure PVA filter un-
der the same pressure drop of 50 Pa. In a 24-h filtration test, the
filtration efficiency of this composite SF/PVA filter remained at a
high value of 98.97% after 24 h. The results indicate the superior
filtration performance of the SF/PVA nanofiber air filter, which
holds a great promise in PM pollution prevention.
Index Terms—PM2 .5 , silk fibroin, PVA, nanofiber, filtration.
I. INTRODUCTION
ARTICULATE matters (PM), which are composed of fine
P solid particles and liquid droplets, has raised serious con-
cerns for public health worldwide, especially in developing
countries, such as China and India. Some developed coun-
tries, such as Belgium and Netherlands, also occasionally and
increasingly suffer from PM pollution levels that are higher
than the threshold of the World Health Organization (WHO)
[1]. Nowadays, the severe air pollution is attributed to vari-
ous human activities such as vehicle emissions, residential oil
Manuscript received December 10, 2017; revised March 9, 2018; accepted
April 3, 2018. Date of publication April 9, 2018; date of current version Septem-
ber 6, 2018. This work was supported in part by the Early Career Scheme Grant
under Project 439113, in part by the General Research Fund under Projects
14209514, 14203715 and 14218516 from the Research Grants Council (RGC)
of Hong Kong SAR, in part by the Science, Technology and Innovation Commit-
tee of Shenzhen Municipality (SZSTI) Fundamental Research and Discipline
Layout under project JCYJ20170413152640731 and basic research fund project
CYJ20160408152617408, in part by the National Natural Science Foundation
of China under Grant 11547042, and the National Natural Science Foundation
of China under Grant 51708474. The review of this paper was arranged by the
IEEE NANO 2017 Guest Editors. (Corresponding authors: Chun Chen and Li
Zhang.)
Y. Bian is with the Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering,
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, and also with the Depart-
ment of Biomedical Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong
Kong (e-mail:,yebian@outlook.com).
R. Wang, S. H. Ting, and L. Zhang are with the Department of Mechan-
ical and Automation Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong,
Hong Kong (e-mail:, wrt8089503@qq.com; charlieting@link.cuhk.edu.hk;
lizhang@mae.cuhk.edu.hk).
C. Chen is with the Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering,
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, and also with the Shenzhen
Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen 518087,
China (e-mail:,chunchen@mae.cuhk.edu.hk).
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TNANO.2018.2824343
1536-125X © 2018 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
Authorized licensed use limited to: Chinese University of Hong Kong. Downloaded on February 16,2020 at 08:54:21 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON NANOTECHNOLOGY, VOL. 17, NO.
combustion, waste incinerator, etc. [2]. In most of the air quality
standards, the particulate air pollution is categorized by PM2.5
(aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 μm) and PM10 (aerody-
namic diameter less than 10 μm). In general, PM2.5 can cause
more serious health problems to people, as they can penetrate
into human lungs [3], [4], which may lead to acute respiratory
and cardiovascular diseases [5], lung cancer [6], and asthma [7],
etc. In China, there are 1.27 million premature deaths caused by
PM pollution annually [8].
Outdoor PM pollution can enter into the buildings, where
people spend most of their time [9], through ventilation and
infiltration [10]–[12]. To prevent the entry of outdoor PM, the
most common approach is to use air filters in the ventilation
systems [13], air purifiers [14], or even on window screens [15].
Hence, the deteriorated air quality and growing living standard
has posed an urgent demand for air filters that could protect
human from the excessive exposure to PM air pollution. There
are two major types of commercial air filters on the market:
porous air filter and fibrous air filters [16]. The porous filters
can achieve a high filtration efficiency because of the small pore
sizes [17]. Whereas the fibrous filters consist of many layers
of micro-fibers to achieve a high filtration efficiency [17], [18].
The drawbacks of these filters include the high pressure drop
and the bulkiness in size. Hence, there is a growing demand
of developing novel air filters with high filtration efficiency but
relatively low air resistance.
Nowadays, nanotechnology has been proven to have huge
potential for the benefits in human health [19]–[23]. In con-
trast to the commercial porous and fibrous filters, nanofiber
filters can offer high filtration efficiency with relatively low
pressure drop [24]. Among the nanofiber fabrication methods
[25]–[27], electrospinning is known as a versatile technique for
nanofibers preparation [28]. In the electrospinning process, the
high voltage is applied to pull the polymer solution into uniform
nanofibers. The ultrathin nanoscaled electrospun fibers and the
unique structures with various orientations allow the electro-
spun nanofiber filters to exhibit the desirable properties, such
as large surface area, tunable porosity and morphology, supe-
rior mechanical property, etc. Furthermore, the electrospinning
technique can be scaled up for mass production, which may sig-
nificantly lower the overall cost of the fabrication process [29].
In addition, a variety of polymers can be used for prepar-
ing the electrospun nanofibers, which is helpful for altering
certain functionalities of filters for PM pollution removal. For
example, Liu et al. used polyacrylonitrile (PAN) [17] to fabri-
cate nanofiber air filters with excellent transparency. The results
BIAN et al.: ELECTROSPUN SF/PVA NANOFIBER FILTERS FOR HIGHLY EFFICIENT PM2 . 5 CAPTURE
showed that the PM2.5 filtration efficiency could reach 96%.
Later, they also fabricated nylon [30] and polyimide (PI) [31]
nanofiber filters for PM2.5 filtration, and the filtration efficien-
cies of the filters were higher than 99%. Many other polymers
have been applied to fabricate air filters, such as polyurethane
(PU) [32], polysulfone (PSU) [33], polyetherimide (PEI) [34],
and chitosan [35]. In addition to nanofiber filters with a sin-
gle polymer, various composite nanofiber air filters have also
evoked much attention in the field of PM pollution control.
Pan et al. [36] prepared a nano-sized/porous poly(lactic acid)
(PLA-N/PLA-P) composite filter, which achieved a high fil-
tration efficiency of 99.999%. The synthesis of poly(ethylene
oxide)@polyacrylonitrile/polysulfone (PEO@PAN/PSU) [37]
and polysulfone/polyacrylonitrile/polyamide-6 (PSU/PAN/PA-
6) [38] filters developed by Ding and co-workers exhibited a
PM2.5 filtration efficiency higher than 99.99%. The compos-
ite filter can produce improved characteristics that are different
from that of individual polymer. In addition, the hierarchical
structures of composite filters could provide enhanced ability
for capturing particles with various diameters [36].
In this study, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was used as the basis
of the polymer material. PVA is non-toxic and commonly used
for continuous electrospun nanofiber preparation. It has been
used in tissue engineering [39], drug release [40], and also fil-
ter fabrication [17], [41], [42]. For instance, Wang et al. [42]
developed a PVA air filter with a submicron particles removal
efficiency of 97.6%. However, to achieve the high filtration effi-
ciency, large thickness of PVA filters are required, which might
lead to undesirable high pressure drop [42]. To overcome this
challenge, this study attempted to fabricate composite nanofiber
filters using PVA as one of the materials. Silk fibroin (SF), a
protein from Bombyx mori silkworms, was chosen as the add-
on material in addition to PVA. The advantages of SF include
excellent mechanical property, environmentally sustainable in
nature, wide availability, and cost effective [43], [44]. SF has
also been proven to be effective in capturing submicron particles
when it is made as a filter [18], [45]. In this study, we blended
SF into PVA solutions and presented the fabrication and char-
acterization of the SF/PVA nanofiber air filters prepared by the
electrospinning technique. The SF/PVA nanofiber filters showed
increased filtration efficiency for both PM2.5 and PM10 com-
pared with that of the pure PVA nanofiber filters. A 24-hour
filtration test revealed that the high filtration efficiency could be
remained after 24 hours of continuous operation. The SF/PVA
nanofiber air filters can be potentially used in the mechanical
ventilation systems, air purifiers, or window screens in buildings
to reduce the indoor exposure to PM of outdoor origin and the
associated health risks.
II. EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
A. Preparation of the SF Solution
The SF solution was first prepared based on the method re-
ported by Wang et al. [44]. 0.02 mol/L of Na2 CO3 aqueous
solution was boiled to remove the sericin proteins of the bom-
byx mori silk fibers. Then, the SF was rinsed with the deionized
water for 3 times to remove the residual sericin proteins. The
Authorized licensed use limited to: Chinese University of Hong Kong. Downloaded on February 16,2020 at 08:54:21 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
935
Fig. 1. Schematic drawing shows the preparation of nanofiber filter using
electrospinning technique.
extracted SF fibers were then dried in an oven at 37 ◦ C for 12
hours. After that, the SF with the desired weight was dissolved
in 9.3 mol/L LiBr solution at 60 ◦ C for 8 hours. LiBr was then
removed from the solution using a cellulose membrane (MWCO
6000–8000 Da) and the SF solution was dialyzed against dis-
tilled water for 4 days. To further remove silk aggregates, the
dialyzed SF solution without LiBr was centrifuged at a speed of
9500 rpm at 4 ◦ C for 20 min for 3 times. The concentration of
final purified SF aqueous solution was around 7 to 8 wt%, and
the solution was kept in a refrigerator at 4 ◦ C.
B. Preparation of the SF/PVA Solution
For the fabrication of the pure PVA filter, pure PVA powder
was dissolved in deionized water to form a 10 mL solution with
a concentration of 9% (w/v), and was magnetically stirred for
one hour at 80 ◦ C. For the fabrication of the SF/PVA filter, the
SF solution was added slowly into the PVA solution with a
concentration of 18%. The blended solution was stirred gently
for 3 hours. The final concentration of SF and PVA was 3.5%
(w/v) and 9% (w/v), respectively. Both solutions had the same
PVA concentration so that the later comparison would be on the
same basis.
C. Preparation of the Electrospun Nanofibers
The whole electrospinning process, as shown in Fig. 1, was
performed at the room temperature. The prepared SF/PVA solu-
tion was infused into a 10 mL plastic syringe with a micro-needle
(22-gauge). The pumping rate was controlled by a syringe pump
at a constant speed of 0.2 mL/h. A high potential was applied to
the micro-needle that connected with copper wires. The electri-
cal force pulled the charged polymer solution into nanofibers.
The voltage was set at 20 kV, and the distance between the nee-
dle and the collector was 20 cm. To obtain uniformly distributed
electrospun nanofibers, a window screen mesh sputtered with
copper on one side was wrapped on the grounded roll-drum
collector, acting as the supporting substance of the nanofiber
filters.
D. PM Removal and Pressure Drop Testing
Fig. 2 is a schematic showing the testbed used in this study
for measuring the PM filtration efficiency and pressure drop.
936 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON NANOTECHNOLOGY, VOL. 17, NO. 5, SEPTEMBER 2018

Fig. 2. Schematic showing of a testbed for measuring the PM removal effi-

ciency and pressure drop of the nanofiber window screen.

A section of a small-scale duct with the dimension of 30 cm in

length, 6 cm in width, and 6 cm in height was built. PM were
generated by burning incense, thus, they had a size distribution.
A fabricated nanofiber filter with a size of 6 × 6 cm2 was inserted
at the middle of the testbed. A draught fan was installed at one
side of the duct to provide a constant air velocity of 0.5 m/s. The
PM concentrations at the upper and down stream of the tested
filter were measured with two PM monitors (SDL301, Nova
Fitness Co., Ltd., China). The filtration efficiency is calculated
by:

η = (C1 − C2 )/C1 (1)

where C1 and C2 (μg/m3 ) is the mass concentrations of PM

in the upper stream and down stream of the filter, respectively.
The pressure drop across the tested filter was measured using
a manometer (TPI 621, Test Products International Inc., OR,
USA) with a resolution of 0.25 Pa.
For the long-term test that simulated a practical living envi-
ronment, the entire test was conducted for 24 hours continuously
to study the long-term performance of the fabricated SF/PVA
nanofiber filters. Fig. 3. SEM images of (a), (b) PVA electrospun nanofiber; (c), (d) SF/PVA
composite electrospun nanofiber, (e) SF/PVA composite electrospun nanofiber
after filtration.
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
A. Characterization of the SF/PVA Nanofiber Filters the particles and SF/PVA nanofibers proved an excellent capture
ability of the fabricated filter in PM air pollution control.
The fiber diameter affects the filtration efficiency signif-
In order to further verify the existence of SF in the prepared
icantly. To illustrate the morphology and the distribution
filters, the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR)
structure of the electrospun nanofibers, a scanning electron mi-
(Thermo Nicolet NEXUS 670, USA) was used. The FTIR spec-
croscope (SEM) (JEOL 7800F, Japan) was used for characteri-
tra of the pure PVA and SF/PVA nanofiber filters were shown in
zation. The SEM images of the pure PVA filter and SF/PVA filter
Fig. 4. The profiles of the curves for the two filters indicated that
were shown in Fig. 3(a), (b) and (c), (d), respectively. Both filters
the distinct peak of SF/PVA curve that compared with pure PVA
had continuous, smooth, and uniform nanofibers. In general,
electrospun filter was at 1650 cm−1 (amide I) and 1538 cm−1
the fiber morphologies, the number of layers, and the structures
(amide II), which were assigned to the main components of SF
were quite similar for the pure PVA and SF/PVA filters. The
[47]. This confirmed that the SF was present in the compos-
average diameter of the pure PVA fibers was 296.6 ± 34.5 nm.
ite SF/PVA filter. The FTIR results, together with SEM images
When using SF/PVA as the composite materials, the average di-
shown in Fig. 3, indicated that there was little change for the
ameter of the fibers decreased to 239.5 ± 27.4 nm. This might be
morphology when blending the SF with PVA compared with the
caused by the reduced viscosity of the SF/PVA after SF is blend-
pure PVA, while the fiber diameter and chemical composition
ing into the solution, because a lower viscosity of the solution
were altered.
could lead to smaller fiber diameter [46]. Fig. 3(e) further shows
the SEM image of the SF/PVA filter after the filtration. It indi-
B. Filtration Performance of the SF/PVA Nanofiber Filters
cated a strong bonding between these submicron-size particles
and electropsun nanofibers. The particles attached and wrapped To systematically investigate the filtration performance of the
around the SF/PVA nanofibers tightly. This interaction between fabricated filters, filtration performance tests were conducted

Authorized licensed use limited to: Chinese University of Hong Kong. Downloaded on February 16,2020 at 08:54:21 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
BIAN et al.: ELECTROSPUN SF/PVA NANOFIBER FILTERS FOR HIGHLY EFFICIENT PM2 . 5 CAPTURE
Fig. 4. FTIR spectra of PVA and SF/PVA composite electrospun film.
Fig. 5. (a) PM2 . 5 and PM1 0 filtration efficiency of SF/PVA composite air
filters with different electrospun time. (b) PM pollution filtration efficiency
comparison between PVA and SF/PVA filter. Error bars represent the standard
deviation of 36 measuring data.
using the testbed shown in Fig. 2 at the room temperature. The
PM pollution generated by burning incense was blowing from
one side of the duct to go across the filter using a draught fan at
a constant velocity of 0.5 m/s.
This study fabricated several SF/PVA nanofiber filters with
the electrospinning time of 1, 1.5, and 2 hours, which was de-
noted as SF/PVA#1, SF/PVA#2, and SF/PVA#3, with a thickness
of 2, 3.15, and 4.25 μm, respectively. Fig. 5(a) shows the filtra-
tion efficiency of both PM2.5 and PM10 for these three filters.
With the shortest electrospinning time of 1 hour, the PM2.5 and
PM10 removal efficiency of SF/PVA#1 was 47.6 ± 0.78% and
47.76 ± 1.58%, respectively. However, the SF/PVA#3 with an
electrospinning time of 2 hours achieved higher filtration effi-
ciency, 99.11 ± 0.24% for PM2.5 and 99.56 ± 0.25% for PM10 .
That was because a longer electrospinning time resulted in a
greater filter thickness, and so as a higher filtration efficiency.
In addition to filtration efficiency, air resistance is another
important factor when considering the performance of the fil-
ters. Despite the filtration efficiency of SF/PVA#3 was high, the
pressure drop was still relatively low at 50 Pa. The air resistance
coefficient, which can be used to compare the air resistance of
filters tested under different face velocities, was calculated using
the following formula [24]:
β = ΔP/U (2)
where β (Pa·s/m) is regarded as the air resistance coefficient, ΔP
(Pa) is the pressure drop, and U (m/s) is the face velocity. Here,
we compared the air resistance coefficient of the SF/PVA#3
Authorized licensed use limited to: Chinese University of Hong Kong. Downloaded on February 16,2020 at 08:54:21 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
937
Fig. 6. Demonstration of filtration performance of SF/PVA composite elec-
trospun nanofiber filter to block the dispersion of PM pollution. The polluted
air is generated by burning an incense in the chamber.
filter with the commercial air filter reported in [24] under the
similar filtration efficiency. The calculated air resistance coef-
ficient of the SF/PVA#3 filter was 500 Pa·s/m with the PM2.5
removal efficiency of 99.11%. On the other hand, the air resis-
tance coefficient of the commercial air filter reported in [24]
was 4910 Pa·s/m with the filtration efficiency of 99.96%. It
is apparent that the air resistance of the SF/PVA#3 filter was
much lower than that of the commercial filter. A major reason
was that the diameters of the SF/PVA nanofibers were compa-
rable to the mean free path of air molecules and led to a higher
Knudsen number in the range of 0.1 to 10. In this transition
regime, the gas slip effect is significant, hence the air velocity
on the nanofiber surface is non-zero [24], [48]. That reduced the
drag force on the air, so that the air resistance can be reduced
significantly.
To investigate the influence of adding SF into the solution on
the filtration performance, we compared the filtration efficiency
of the pure PVA and SF/PVA filters, as shown in Fig. 5(b).
The PM2.5 and PM10 removal efficiency of the pure PVA filter
was 88.25 ± 2.29% and 88.63 ± 2.05%, respectively. However,
with the same pressure drop of 50 Pa, the PM2.5 and PM10
removal efficiency of the SF/PVA#3 filter was 99.11 ± 0.24%
and 99.56 ± 0.25%, respectively. Therefore, blending SF into
the PVA solution can increase the filtration efficiency by around
10%. The increased filtration efficiency may be attributed to two
mechanisms. First, the fiber diameters decreased so that the slip
effects were more significant. Also, the smaller nanofiber diam-
eters led to a larger specific surface area which was beneficial
for PM capture [49]. Second, the added SF could also lead to
the change in surface chemistry, as there are plenty of functional
groups in SF, such as hydroxyl (-OH), amine (-NH2 ), and car-
boxyl (-COOH) groups [50]. These functional groups improve
the interaction between the SF/PVA nanofibers and the submi-
cron particles [51]. That would enhance the capture capability
of PM pollution.
Fig. 6 further shows a visual demonstration of the PM fil-
tration in a two-chamber setup with one simulating the indoor
environment and the other simulating outdoor environment with
extremely severe PM pollution. The SF/PVA nanofiber filter
938
Fig. 7. Photography of (a) bending and (b) twisting of SF/PVA nanofiber filter.
Fig. 8. (a) 24-hour PM2 . 5 filtration test of SF/PVA electrospun filter; pho-
tographs (b) before and (c) after filtration.
was inserted in the “window” that connected the indoor and
outdoor chambers. Incenses were burned in the chamber on
the right hand side, which simulated the outdoor environment,
to generate a large amount of PM. The outdoor chamber was
highly polluted visually. However, the chamber on the left hand
side, which simulated the indoor environment, was clean. The
demonstration visually shows that the fabricated SF/PVA fil-
ter well blocked the PM pollution from being transported from
outdoor to indoor environment.
In addition to filtration performance, excellent mechanical
property of an air filter is also essential for practical applica-
tions. This study evaluated the mechanical strength property by
bending and twisting the SF/PVA nanofiber filters as shown in
Fig. 7. It revealed that the filter can remain its original shape
after bending and twisting to 180◦ , which indicated that the filter
was flexible and robust.
C. 24-Hour Filtration Performance of the SF/PVA Filter
A 24-hour filtration test for the SF/PVA#3 filter was con-
ducted using the setup shown in Fig. 6. The test aimed to sim-
ulate the real living environment. It was conducted at the room
temperature and the PM pollution was blowing towards the filter
with mild winds for 24 hours. The PM2.5 filtration efficiencies
as a function of time were shown in Fig. 8(a). After 24 hours
of operation, the drop in the removal efficiency was only 0.65%
Authorized licensed use limited to: Chinese University of Hong Kong. Downloaded on February 16,2020 at 08:54:21 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON NANOTECHNOLOGY, VOL. 17, NO. 5, SEPTEMBER 2018
and the filtration efficiency remained at a high value of 98.97%.
Fig. 8(b) and (c) are the photographs of the SF/PVA#3 filter be-
fore and after the test, respectively. The dark brown testing area
after the test indicated that the PM were effectively captured by
the SF/PVA#3 filter.
IV. CONCLUSION
In summary, we have demonstrated that the SF/PVA electro-
spun nanofiber air filter was effective for PM pollution filtra-
tion. With introducing the SF, the PM filtration efficiency was
improved because of the reduced fiber diameter and unique sur-
face chemistry compared with pure PVA nanofiber filter. The
results showed that the PM2.5 filtration of the SF/PVA#3 filter
reached 99.11%, which was about 10% higher than that of the
pure PVA filter under the same pressure drop of 50 Pa. Com-
pared with commercial air filters, the air resistance coefficient
of SF/PVA filter was reduced by 90% under the similar filtration
efficiency. Moreover, a 24 hour test in a simulated living envi-
ronment revealed that the filtration efficiency could maintain at
a high value of 98.97% after 24 hours of operation. The devel-
oped SF/PVA nanofiber air filters can be massively produced
and be potential for reducing indoor exposure to PM of outdoor
origin and provide people a healthier living environment.
REFERENCES
[1] C. Guerreiro, A. G. Ortiz, F. de Leeuw, M. Viana, and J. Horálek, Air Qual-
ity in Europe-2016 Report. Publications Office of the European Union,
2016.
[2] Y. Cheng et al., “PM2 . 5 and PM1 0 −2 . 5 chemical composition and source
apportionment near a Hong Kong roadway,” Particuology, vol. 18, pp. 96–
104, 2015.
[3] A. Fatihou, N. Zouzou, and L. Dascalescu, “Particle collection effi-
ciency of polypropylene non-woven filter media charged by triode corona
discharge,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. 53, no. 4, pp. 3970–3976,
Jul./Aug. 2017.
[4] R. D. Brook et al., “Air pollution and cardiovascular disease,” Circulation,
vol. 109, no. 21, pp. 2655–2671, 2004.
[5] M. Franklin, A. Zeka, and J. Schwartz, “Association between PM2 . 5 and
all-cause and specific-cause mortality in 27 US communities,” J. Exposure
Sci. Environ. Epidemiology, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 279–287, 2007.
[6] C. A. Pope III et al., “Lung cancer, cardiopulmonary mortality, and long-
term exposure to fine particulate air pollution,” J. Amer. Med. Assoc.,
vol. 287, no. 9, pp. 1132–1141, 2002.
[7] O. Yu, L. Sheppard, T. Lumley, J. Q. Koenig, and G. G. Shapiro, “Effects
of ambient air pollution on symptoms of asthma in Seattle-area children
enrolled in the camp study,” Environ. Health Perspectives, vol. 108, no. 12,
pp. 1209–1214, 2000.
[8] T. Petäjä et al., “Enhanced air pollution via aerosol-boundary layer feed-
back in China,” Sci. Rep., vol. 6, 2016, Art. no. 18998.
[9] N. E. Klepeis et al., “The National Human Activity Pattern Survey
(NHAPS): A resource for assessing exposure to environmental pollutants,”
J. Exposure Sci. Environ. Epidemiology, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 231–252, 2001.
[10] C. Chen and B. Zhao, “Review of relationship between indoor and out-
door particles: I/o ratio, infiltration factor and penetration factor,” Atmos.
Environ., vol. 45, no. 2, pp. 275–288, 2011.
[11] C. Chen, B. Zhao, W. Zhou, X. Jiang, and Z. Tan, “A methodology for
predicting particle penetration factor through cracks of windows and doors
for actual engineering application,” Building Environ., vol. 47, pp. 339–
348, 2012.
[12] C. Chen, B. Zhao, and C. J. Weschler, “Indoor exposure to “outdoor
PM1 0 ”: Assessing its influence on the relationship between PM1 0 and
short-term mortality in US cities,” Epidemiology, vol. 23, no. 6, pp. 870–
878, 2012.
[13] M. Zaatari, A. Novoselac, and J. Siegel, “The relationship between fil-
ter pressure drop, indoor air quality, and energy consumption in rooftop
HVAC units,” Building Environ., vol. 73, pp. 151–161, 2014.
BIAN et al.: ELECTROSPUN SF/PVA NANOFIBER FILTERS FOR HIGHLY EFFICIENT PM2 . 5 CAPTURE
[14] D. Consulting, “Air purifier market in China: Facing transforma-
tion,” 2016. [Online]. Available: http://daxueconsulting.com/air-purifier-
market-in-china/
[15] S. Shi, Y. Bian, L. Zhang, and C. Chen, “A method for assessing the
performance of nanofiber films coated on window screens in reducing
residential exposures to PM2 . 5 of outdoor origin in Beijing,” Indoor Air,
vol. 27, no. 6, pp. 1190–1200, 2017.
[16] W. C. Hinds, Aerosol Technology: Properties, Behavior, and Measurement
of Airborne Particles. Hoboken, NJ, USA: Wiley, 2012.
[17] C. Liu et al., “Transparent air filter for high-efficiency PM2 . 5 capture,”
Nature Commun., vol. 6, 2015, Art. no. 6205.
[18] C. Wang et al., “Silk nanofibers as high efficient and lightweight air filter,”
Nano Res., vol. 9, no. 9, pp. 2590–2597, 2016.
[19] K. S. Soppimath, T. M. Aminabhavi, A. R. Kulkarni, and W. E. Rudzinski,
“Biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles as drug delivery devices,” J. Con-
trolled Release, vol. 70, no. 1, pp. 1–20, 2001.
[20] L. Zhang, J. J. Abbott, L. Dong, B. E. Kratochvil, D. Bell, and B. J.
Nelson, “Artificial bacterial flagella: Fabrication and magnetic control,”
Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 94, no. 6, 2009, Art. no. 064107.
[21] S. K. Nitta and K. Numata, “Biopolymer-based nanoparticles for
drug/gene delivery and tissue engineering,” Int. J. Mol. Sci., vol. 14, no. 1,
pp. 1629–1654, 2013.
[22] J. Yu, T. Xu, Z. Lu, C. I. Vong, and L. Zhang, “On-demand disassembly of
paramagnetic nanoparticle chains for microrobotic cargo delivery,” IEEE
Trans. Robot., vol. 33, no. 5, pp. 1213–1225, Oct. 2017.
[23] X. Yan et al., “Multifunctional biohybrid magnetite microrobots for
imaging-guided therapy,” Sci. Robot., vol. 2, no. 12, 2017, Art. no.
eaaq1155.
[24] T. Xia, Y. Bian, L. Zhang, and C. Chen, “Relationship between pressure
drop and face velocity for electrospun nanofiber filters,” Energy Buildings,
vol. 158, pp. 987–999, 2018.
[25] A. Agiral, L. Lefferts, and J. G. Gardeniers, “Catalyst activation by mi-
croplasma for carbon nanofiber synthesis in a microreactor,” IEEE Trans.
Plasma Sci., vol. 37, no. 6, pp. 985–992, Jun. 2009.
[26] J. Mao, S. Duan, A. Song, Q. Cai, X. Deng, and X. Yang, “Macroporous
and nanofibrous poly (lactide-co-glycolide)(50/50) scaffolds via phase
separation combined with particle-leaching,” Mater. Sci. Eng., C, vol. 32,
no. 6, pp. 1407–1414, 2012.
[27] M. Li, D. Wang, R. Xiao, G. Sun, Q. Zhao, and H. Li, “A novel high flux
poly (trimethylene terephthalate) nanofiber membrane for microfiltration
media,” Separation Purification Technol., vol. 116, pp. 199–205, 2013.
[28] O. Karatay, M. Dogan, T. Uyar, D. Cokeliler, and I. C. Kocum, “An
alternative electrospinning approach with varying electric field for 2-D-
aligned nanofibers,” IEEE Trans. Nanotechnol., vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 101–
108, Jan. 2014.
[29] Y. Luo et al., “Novel biosensor based on electrospun nanofiber and
magnetic nanoparticles for the detection of E. coli O157: H7,” IEEE
Trans. Nanotechnol., vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 676–681, Jul. 2012.
[30] J. Xu et al., “Roll-to-roll transfer of electrospun nanofiber film for high-
efficiency transparent air filter,” Nano Lett., vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 1270–1275,
2016.
[31] R. Zhang et al., “Nanofiber air filters with high-temperature stability for
efficient PM2 . 5 removal from the pollution sources,” Nano Lett., vol. 16,
no. 6, pp. 3642–3649, 2016.
[32] W. Sambaer, M. Zatloukal, and D. Kimmer, “3D air filtration modeling
for nanofiber based filters in the ultrafine particle size range,” Chem. Eng.
Sci., vol. 82, pp. 299–311, 2012.
[33] H. Wan et al., “Hierarchically structured polysulfone/titania fibrous mem-
branes with enhanced air filtration performance,” J. Colloid Interface Sci.,
vol. 417, pp. 18–26, 2014.
[34] X. Li et al., “Electreted polyetherimide–silica fibrous membranes for
enhanced filtration of fine particles,” J. Colloid Interface Sci., vol. 439,
pp. 12–20, 2015.
Authorized licensed use limited to: Chinese University of Hong Kong. Downloaded on February 16,2020 at 08:54:21 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
939
[35] B. Zhang et al., “Chitosan nanostructures by in situ electrospinning for
high-efficiency PM2 . 5 capture,” Nanoscale, vol. 9, no. 12, pp. 4154–4161,
2017.
[36] Z. Wang and Z. Pan, “Preparation of hierarchical structured nano-
sized/porous poly (lactic acid) composite fibrous membranes for air filtra-
tion,” Appl. Surface Sci., vol. 356, pp. 1168–1179, 2015.
[37] S. Zhang, H. Liu, X. Yin, J. Yu, and B. Ding, “Anti-deformed polyacryloni-
trile/polysulfone composite membrane with binary structures for effective
air filtration,” ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, vol. 8, no. 12, pp. 8086–8095,
2016.
[38] S. Zhang, N. Tang, L. Cao, X. Yin, J. Yu, and B. Ding, “Highly integrated
polysulfone/polyacrylonitrile/polyamide-6 air filter for multilevel physical
sieving airborne particles,” ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, vol. 8, no. 42,
pp. 29062–29072, 2016.
[39] K. Shalumon et al., “Electrospinning of carboxymethyl chitin/poly (vinyl
alcohol) nanofibrous scaffolds for tissue engineering applications,” Car-
bohydrate Polym., vol. 77, no. 4, pp. 863–869, 2009.
[40] P. Taepaiboon, U. Rungsardthong, and P. Supaphol, “Drug-loaded electro-
spun mats of poly (vinyl alcohol) fibres and their release characteristics of
four model drugs,” Nanotechnology, vol. 17, no. 9, pp. 2317–2329, 2006.
[41] J. Li, F. Gao, L. Liu, and Z. Zhang, “Needleless electro-spun nanofibers
used for filtration of small particles.” Exp. Polym. Lett., vol. 7, no. 8,
pp. 6834–689, 2013.
[42] H. Wang, G. Zheng, and D. Sun, “Electrospun nanofibrous membrane for
air filtration,” in Proc. 7th IEEE Conf. Nanotechnol., 2007, pp. 1244–1247.
[43] M. Chu and G. Liu, “Fluorescent silkworm silk prepared via incorporation
of green, yellow, red, and near-infrared fluorescent quantum dots,” IEEE
Trans. Nanotechnol., vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 308–315, May 2008.
[44] Y. Yang et al., “Bioinspired porous octacalcium phosphate/silk fibroin
composite coating materials prepared by electrochemical deposition,” ACS
Appl. Mater. Interfaces, vol. 7, no. 10, pp. 5634–5642, 2015.
[45] G. Lang, S. Jokisch, and T. Scheibel, “Air filter devices including nonwo-
ven meshes of electrospun recombinant spider silk proteins,” J. Vis. Exp.,
vol. 8, no. 75, 2013, Art. no. e50492.
[46] E. Hadipour-Goudarzi, M. Montazer, M. Latifi, and A. A. G. Aghaji,
“Electrospinning of chitosan/sericin/PVA nanofibers incorporated with in
situ synthesis of nano silver,” Carbohydrate Polym., vol. 113, pp. 231–239,
2014.
[47] Y. Bian, C. Chen, and L. Zhang, “Development of nanofiber filters with
high PM2 . 5 removal efficiency and low air resistance,” in Proc. 2017 IEEE
Int. Conf. Nanotechnol., 2017, pp. 868–872.
[48] X. Zhao, S. Wang, X. Yin, J. Yu, and B. Ding, “Slip-effect functional air
filter for efficient purification of PM2 . 5 ,” Sci. Rep., vol. 6, 2016, Art. no.
35472.
[49] P. Li, C. Wang, Y. Zhang, and F. Wei, “Air filtration in the free molecular
flow regime: A review of high-efficiency particulate air filters based on
carbon nanotubes,” Small, vol. 10, no. 22, pp. 4543–4561, 2014.
[50] K. A. Burke, D. C. Roberts, and D. L. Kaplan, “Silk fibroin aqueous-based
adhesives inspired by mussel adhesive proteins,” Biomacromolecules,
vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 237–245, 2015.
[51] H. Souzandeh, K. S. Johnson, Y. Wang, K. Bhamidipaty, and W.-H. Zhong,
“Soy-protein-based nanofabrics for highly efficient and multifunctional air
filtration,” ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, vol. 8, no. 31, pp. 20023–20031,
2016.
Authors’ photographs and biographies not available at the time of publication.