Enhanced filtration characteristics of a PTFE foam-coated filter using PTFE nanofibers

• Published in: Materials chemistry and physics Vol. 305; p. 127970
• Main Authors: Kim, Han Bin, Han, Bangwoo, Lee, Myong-Hwa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.09.2023
• Subjects: Bag filter; Electrospinning; Polytetrafluoroethylene; Surface filtration; Thermal stability; Electrospinning; Polytetrafluoroethylene; Surface filtration; Bag filter; Thermal stability
• ISSN: 0254-0584; 1879-3312
• DOI: 10.1016/j.matchemphys.2023.127970

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is a bag filter material with limited options for fiber production methods because of its high melt viscosity. In this study, a new method for fabricating a PTFE composite filter with high filtration performance was proposed. PTFE nanofibers produced by electrospinning, were coated on the surface of the PTFE foam-coated filter, and heat-treated, resulting in the fabrication of PTFE composite filter. The optimal conditions for preparing PTFE nanofibers with a uniform fiber distribution were determined using a systematic approach. A uniform fiber morphology of the electrospun fibers was prepared by controlling the PTFE-Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) mixing ratio and the electric field strength, and pure PTFE fibers were obtained by heat-treatment at an optimal temperature based on TGA, DSC, and FT-IR analyses. The filter quality factor of the resultant PTFE composite filter, which represents the filtration performance, was approximately twice that of the PTFE foam-coated filter for all particle sizes. Furthermore, the cleaning cycle and cleaning efficiency of the PTFE composite filter improved by 9% and 3.9–5.4%, respectively, compared to those of the PTFE foam-coated filter, which was closely related to high contact angles of water and oil. [Display omitted] •Pure PTFE nanofibers fabrication by electrospinning and heat treatment.•Enhanced filtration performance of the PTFE nanofibers coated composite filter.•Improved filter cleaning due to low surface free energy of the PTFE composite filter.