Hybridization of activated carbon fiber cloth with electrospun nanofibers for particle filtration

Activated carbon fibers (ACFs) have high adsorption capacities and can be used in the treatment of benzene, while electrospun nanofibers are expected to be used as a filtration material. In this work, two hybrids of electrospun nanofibers and ACF cloth were prepared by electrospinning polyvinyl alcohol and polyacrylonitrile nanofibers into a phenolic resin-based ACF cloth. The filtration performance of the two hybrids was evaluated. Results indicate that there is a positive correlation between the filtration efficiency and the amount of electrospun nanofibers in the hybrid. The filtration efficiency increases with increasing air velocity, which is attributed to a piezoelectric effect introduced by the electrospun nanofibers. The hybrids have a good adsorption capacity for benzene, which suggests that the materials are promising for treating air pollution.