Eco-friendly electrospun nanofibers for air filtration enhanced by TiO2 nanoparticles reactive phases for superior capturing the emitted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)

Abstract

The electrospinning nanofibrous filters have attracted much attention owing to their distinctive physicochemical properties. This work focused on designing a novel, straightforward prototype model and fabricating eco-friendly electrospun nanofiber filters as promising air filtration. The synthesized electrospun nanofiber is composed of cellulose acetate (CA) and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), which was enhanced by TiO₂ nanoparticles to improve the capturing of low, medium, and high molecular weight PAHs. The fabricated CA:TPU/TiO₂ and their derivatives were analyzed using FT-IR, XRD, TEM, SEM, TGA, and mechanical characteristics. Different concentrations of TiO₂ (2 %, 4 %, 6 %, 8 %) were evaluated. The determinations of PAHs were achieved using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) with a TG-5MS column. The newly designed prototype has two air pathways with identical specifications; therefore, it could simultaneously evaluate the efficiency of two filters. In Motobas dumpsite (agricultural sources), the results indicated that the highest efficiency of electrospun nanofiber filters was CA:TPU/TiO₂ 6 %, captured 3041 µg/m³ of total PAHs, and also in the incinerator stack (industrial sources) was CA:TPU/TiO₂ 6 % captured 9401 µg/m³ of total PAHs. The concentrations of low molecular weight PAHs were greater than the high molecular weight in all sites, and the electrospun CA:TPU/TiO₂ was the most effective catalyst for air purification.