ALD-seeded hydrothermally-grown Ag/ZnO nanorod PTFE membrane as efficient indoor air filter

Shasha Feng, Dongyan Li, Ze xian Low, Zhongyun Liu, Zhaoxiang Zhong, Yunxia Hu, Yong Wang, Weihong Xing

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

64 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

It has been well recognized that there are a number of indoor contaminants including particulate matter, gaseous pollutants and microbials. The removal of indoor contaminants often requires multiple layers of various air filters. Herein, we report on a multifunctional air purifying filter produced by the hydrothermal growth of ZnO nanorod-wrapped PTFE nanofibers, constructed of nanostructured Ag deposited on the ZnO nanorods with a hierarchical structure for gas contaminant removal. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) was used to seed a layer of ZnO nanoseeds onto the PTFE fibrils which were then subjected to a hydrothermal reaction to form ZnO nanorods. Ag nanoparticels were subsequently assembled on the surface of the ZnO nanorods via a silver electroless deposition reaction. The resulting composite membrane exhibited an excellent dynamic antibacterial property of ~100% and a formaldehyde degradation rate of 60%. Compared with the pristine membrane, the gas permeation of the composite membrane increased from 227.26 m3 m−2 h−1 kPa−1 to 275.36 m3 m−2 h−1 kPa−1. The successful fabrication of this composite membrane with remarkable antibacterial and excellent formaldehyde degradation performance may provide a new route for the preparation of indoor air purification filters.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)86-93
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Membrane Science
Volume531
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Ag nanoparticles
  • Dynamic test
  • Formaldehyde degradation
  • Indoor air filter
  • ZnO nanorods

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