Ultralow-Resistance High-Voltage Loaded Woven Air Filter for Fine Particle/Bacteria Removal

Conventional filters for air filtration typically feature compact nonwoven structures, which not only lead to high pressure drop, significant energy consumption, and a decay in filtration efficacy, but are also uncleanable, resulting in substantial pollution upon disposal. In this study, filters with high-voltage electrostatic loading capability were developed with a dopamine binding layer to facilitate the establishment of an Ag conductive layer on the surface of ultraloose woven structure fabrics (pore size: 73.7 μm). The high-voltage-loaded woven structure filtration (VLWF) system was constructed with a negative-ion zone, a high-voltage filtration zone, and a grounded filter. The morphological, chemical, and electrical properties of the filters and the filtration performance of the VLWF system were evaluated. The single-pass filtration efficiencies for PM_2.5 and E. coli were 67.4% and 97.0%, respectively. Notably, the pressure drop was reduced to 6.2 Pa, and the quality factor reached 0.1810 Pa^-1 with no detectable ozone release. After three cycles of ultrasonic cleaning, approximately 58.4% of filtration efficiency was maintained without any increase in air resistance. The removal of PM_2.5 and microorganisms by this system was not solely reliant on blocking and electrostatic attraction but may also involve induced repulsion and biostructure inactivation. By integrating the ultraloose woven structure with high-voltage assistance, this VLWF system effectively balanced the requirements for high filtration efficacy and low air resistance. More importantly, this VLWF system provided a cleanable filter model that reduced the pollution associated with conventional disposable filters and lowered costs for customers.