Rational designed ZIF-8@PDA@PDMS composite sponge for efficient and sustainable particulate matter filtering under harsh environment

Particulate matter (PM) is a significant danger to both environment and human health. Despite the development of a series of air filters, they do not work well in harsh environment such as high tem-perature, high humidity or long-time filtration. To make a three-dimensional (3D) particle capture de-vice, a sacrificial template approach was used to manufacture polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) sponge, and then zeolite imidazole framework-8 (ZIF-8) was grown in situ on the 3D network of PDMS sponge. The removal efficiency of PM2.5 or PM10 is greater than 99.8% because of the high specific surface area and porous network structure of PDMS sponge, as well as the large number of metal sites of ZIF-8. In addition, the sponge filter has long-term filtration stability and still achieves excellent performance after 65 h of filtration. The composite sponge can adapt to harsh environments such as high temperature (250 & DEG;C) and high humidity (90% RH). Composite sponge filter has a regular shape, and it may be customized to any shape as required. This study provides a new idea for designing 3D high-efficiency air filters that can adapt to harsh environments. (C) 2022 Chinese Society of Particuology and Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Automated summary

Particulate matter (PM) poses a significant threat to the environment and human health. Traditional air filters are not effective in harsh environments. This study provides a new design concept for three-dimensional high-efficiency air filters that can adapt to harsh conditions. The composite sponge made of PDMS sponge and ZIF-8 material efficiently removes particulate matter and demonstrates stable filtration performance and good adaptability.