Fabrication of Antimicrobial Nanofiber Air Filter Using Activated Carbon and Cinnamon Essential Oil

Recently, air quality is seriously worsening because of micro dust. As a result, respiratory and heart disease patients are also increasing every year. Therefore, the development of a highly efficient air filter media is required. In this study, we developed an antibacterial air filter media with activated carbon (AC) and cinnamon essential oil (CO). 12 wt.% polyurethane (PU) solution mixed with CO and AC was electrospun to prepare the AC + CO + PU nanofiber mat. We studied various characteristics of the AC + CO + PU nanofibrous mat. The surface morphology of mats in different concentration ratios was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). We confirmed the antimicrobial activity of the nanofibrous mat using zone of inhibition test with Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Air filter test was carried out to observe air filtration efficiency and pressure drop. This data was used to calculate the quality factor of the fabricated nanofiber air filter media. The fabricated antimicrobial nanofiber air filter media can be applied to various fields such as personal masks, air purification devices and bio applications.