Silver nanoparticles/graphene oxide arranged on polytetrafluoroethylene substrate hydrophilic modified with TiO2 to construct efficient air purification material.

Recently, the harsh air environment caused by disasters and human activities poses a great challenge to the development of efficient and antibacterial air purification systems to protect human health. In this work, a new type of high-efficiency polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) air filter was successfully prepared by employing silver nanoparticles decorated with graphene oxide (Ag NPs/GO) functional materials that deposited in PTFE substrate membranes hydrophilic modified with TiO 2 for the improvement of the enclosed space air quality. The results revealed that the introduction of TiO 2 can improve the interfacial adhesion between PTFE membrane and functional materials, improving the feasibility of long-term application of composite membrane. The composite membrane possessed the crisscross network structure interconnected by fibrils, which gives the membrane high-efficiency particulate matters (PMs) removal rate (99.25% for PM 2.5) without sacrificing the pressure drop (90.52 Pa). Moreover, the prepared composite membrane also has more excellent antibacterial performance (98.7% for Escherichia coli (E. coli)), which can reduce the secondary pollution caused by improper post-treatment of the polluted filter in practical applications. After simple cleaning and regeneration, the composite membrane can still maintain an ultra-high particle removal rate (over 95%) after 5 cycles. The prepared efficiency air filtration composite membranes have positive potential applications in air purification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]