Surface modified polyacrylonitrile/polyamide nanofibre composite for air filtration

Abstract

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and Polyamide (PA)-6 based nanofibrous composite were prepared for air filtration application. PAN was electrospun on spun-bonded non-woven polypropylene which acts as a collector and the samples were coated with PA-6. Box-Behnken experimental design was used to design the experimental plan. As per the experimental plan, PA-6 coated samples were treated with different concentrations of an alkali solution (NaOH) (2%, 5% and 8%) and treatment temperature (60oC, 80oC and 100oC) to enhance the surface properties. As prepared nanofibrous composite was tested for its various properties such as surface morphology, particle filtration efficiency and air permeability. Fourier transform infra-red analysis and scanning electron microscope were performed to analyze the functional groups and morphology of the nanofibrous composite respectively. The air permeability of the control and treated samples was analyzed as per the standard procedure and the permeation level varies from 52.5 to 60 cm3/cm2/s for control samples, 65–195 cm3/cm2/s for treated samples. The overall filtration efficiency for treated samples varies from 36.54% to 78.56%. The sample which is treated with 5% NaOH at 60oC has a higher overall filtration efficiency of 78.56%.