(767a) Experimental research on the filtration performance of non-uniform patterned nanofibrous membrane

Nanofibrous filter has a very wide range of applications in the removal of solid or oil particles from the gas phase and the prevention of disease aerosol transmission because of its fine diameters and high specific surface areas. Using a denser nanofibrous structure or finer nanofiber diameters is a common approach to improve its filtration efficiency, but usually results in a striking increase of air resistance, which means higher energy consumption and more likely to be blocked. Here, we have shown a novel nanofibrous composite filter that using the non-uniform nanofiber packing density to achieve the improvement of both solid particle and oil mist filtration performance. Electrospinning was employed to fabricate patterned nanofibrous membranes with different parameters on non-woven fabric. The effect of patterned parameters on filtration performance for the patterned nanofibrous filter was analyzed and discussed both for particle and oil mist filtration. The influence of patterned membranes on solid particle and oil mist filtration performance respectively came from the change of airflow and liquid distribution in the filter medium due to its non-uniform nanofiber distribution. We further demonstrated a novel dual-layer staggered combination of patterned nanofibrous membranes to maintain the low air resistance, meanwhile, significantly enhance the filtration efficiency. Such non-uniform distribution of fiber packing density may provide new ideas for the optimization of the conventional filters in various applications.