High-performance air filtration was the key to health protection from biological and ultrafine dust pollution. A self-supporting, three-dimensional (3D) nanofibrous membrane with curled pattern was electrospun for the filtration, of which the micro-fluffy structure displayed high-filtration efficiency and low-pressure drop. The flow field in the 3D filtration membrane was simulated to optimize the process parameters to increase the filtration performance. The qualification factor increased from 0.0274 Pa-1 to 0.0309 Pa-1 by 12.77% after the optimization of the electrospinning parameters. The best filtration efficiency and pressure drop were 93.6% and 89.0 Pa, separately. This work provides a new strategy to fabricate 3D structures through the construction of fiber morphology and promotes further improvement of air filtration performance of fibrous filters.
Keywords: air filtration; curled nanofibrous; electrospun membrane; self-supporting composite structure; three-dimensional pattern.