Nanoporous Atomically Thin Graphene Filters for Nanoscale Aerosols

Filtering nanoparticulate aerosols from air streams is important for a wide range of personal protection equipment (PPE), including masks used for medical research, healthcare, law enforcement, first responders, and military applications. Conventional PPEs capable of filtering nanoparticles < 300 nm are typically bulky and sacrifice breathability to maximize protection from exposure to harmful nanoparticulate aerosols including viruses -20-300 nm from air streams. Here, we show that nanopores introduced into centimeter-scale monolayer graphene supported on polycarbonate track-etched supports via a facile oxygen plasma etch can allow for filtration of aerosolized SiO2 nanoparticles of -5-20 nm from air steams while maintaining air permeance of -2.28-7.1 x 10(-5) mol m(-2 )s-1 Pa-1. Furthermore, a systematic increase in oxygen plasma etch time allows for a tunable size-selective filtration of aerosolized nanoparticles. We demonstrate a new route to realize ultra-compact, lightweight, and conformal form-factor filters capable of blocking sub-20 nm aerosolized nanoparticles with particular relevance for biological/viral threat mitigation.

Automated summary

Filtering nanoparticulate aerosols from air streams is crucial for various personal protection equipment (PPE). The existing PPEs are bulky and sacrifice breathability. However, a new study has shown that introducing nanopores into graphene can enable effective filtration of sub-20 nm nanoparticles while maintaining good air permeability. This research has important implications for bio/virus threat mitigation.