Quality factors of PVA nanofibrous filters for airborne particles in the size range of 10-125 nm

PVA nanofibrous filter samples were fabricated in a laboratory under eight different electrospinning conditions; they were first characterized in terms of fiber size distributions by automatic SEM analysis. The quality factors of these nanofibrous filters were then evaluated using sodium chloride nanoparticles in the size range of 10-125 nm. Results showed that, as expected, single layer filters with smaller fiber diameters and greater solidity were efficient. However, these characteristics led to lower quality factors due to their greater pressure drops. Single layer filters made with higher applied voltage, longer tip to collector distance and shorter deposition time corresponded to greater filter quality factors. The quality factor of single layer filter was inversely related to filter thicknesses. Multilayer filters made by stacking thin nanofibrous filters greatly increased the filter quality factors. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.