Global View and Trends in Electrospun Nanofiber Membranes for Particulate Matter Filtration: A Review

Numerous experimental works for particulate matter (PM) filtration by electrospun nanofiber membranes (ESNFMs) are published in the last 10 years (2010-2021). Organizing and comparing the large amount of the available information to identify the best trends constitutes a big challenge. This review classifies all kinds of ESNFMs considering their physical, chemical, or electrical characteristics. All of them are obtained by modifying several parameters during a specific stage associated to the electrospinning process (ES). In this review, each of these stages is considered a moment as a particular instant in time. According to that, three modifications are made: Moment 1-before ES, which refers to changes in polymeric solution composition; moment 2-during ES, which refers to modifying parameters while ES is performed; and moment 3-after ES, which involves applying post-treatments directly on the membrane. After classifying all kinds of filters by moments, a detailed comparison of ESNFMs with the highest quality factors for PM0.3 is presented, finding out the best trends and comparing their main filtration parameters as well, where the most promising ones correspond to charged and nanofiber/nets membranes, due to their high capture efficiencies (>95%) while maintaining low pressure drops (<100 Pa).

Automated summary

This review examines numerous experimental works on particulate matter filtration by electrospun nanofiber membranes in the past decade, classifying and comparing different types of ESNFMs to identify the best trends. By categorizing the ESNFMs based on moments during the electrospinning process, the study reveals that charged and nanofiber/nets membranes show the most promising results for PM0.3 filtration, with high capture efficiencies (>95%) and low pressure drops (<100 Pa).