Air filtration performance of nanofiber membranes with different morphologies produced by green electrospinning

To further target product development with low environmental impact, an integral green electrospinning (G-ES) approach has been adopted through the simultaneous application of various strategies, such as the use of biopolymers, reduction of energy use to avoid melting temperatures, and selection of non-toxic solvents and surfactants. Green solubility spinnability maps for cellulose acetate (CA), poly epsilon-caprolactone (PCL), and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) are presented. Green electrospinning (G-ES) allows the production of new morphologies for CA and PCL nanofiber membranes. In this work, CA exhibits a ribbon-like morphology, PCL shows a honeycomb-like morphology and PVA cylindrical fibers. Membrane morphologies are compared with filtration efficiency (FE) for particle size of 1.0 mu m and quality factor (Q(F)) at a volumetric flux of 27.63 cm(-1). For CA is between 83% and 96% and high Q(F) = 0.31-0.38 Pa-1, PCL is 92% and 99% and high Q(F) = 0.28-0.21 Pa-1 and for PVA between 96% and 99% and high Q(F) = 0.14-0.08 Pa-1. These results suggest that the hierarchical nanofiber structure improves filtration performance because of the reduction in pressure drop and increase in PM interception. CA ribbon-like fibers favored air filtration performance, followed by PCL honeycomb-like fibers.