Nanofabric nonwoven mat for filtration smoke and nanoparticles

The process of production of filtration mats of various thickness from PVC and PVDF polymers by the electrospinning method is presented in the paper. Filtration of nanoparticles and submicron particles is an important problem in industry and health protection systems, in particular in air-conditioning and ventilation appliances. This problem can be effectively solved by application of non-woven fibrous filtration mats. The experimental investigations of mechanical properties of nanofibrous filtration mats produced by electrospinning and the measurements of removal efficiency of submicron particles from flowing gas have indicated potential usefulness of these nanomats for gas cleaning of air-conditioning systems and/or ventilation ducts. The experimental results obtained for cigarette smoke of a mass median diameter of about 1 μm, used as test particles, have shown that nonwoven nanofibrous filtration mats produced by electrospinning have a good filtration efficiency for nano- and submicron particles, owing to a pressure drop similar to HEPA filters. Particles of this size are particularly difficult to be removed from the flow by a conventional method, for example, by a cyclone or electrostatic precipitator.