A novel cellulose acetate/poly (ionic liquid) composite air filter

Global air pollution poses a serious risk to human health. Among the variety of types of pollution, inhalable particulate matter (PM 2.5) is proved to be extremely harmful. In this work, a simple method was designed to synthesize a novel air filter, which composed of cellulose acetate and poly (ionic liquids) by using the technique of macromolecular design and electrostatic spinning process. The introduction of poly (ionic liquids) effectively reduced the diameter of fibers and thus obtains nano-fibrous filters. The removal rate of PM 10 and PM 2.5 particle by the filters reached 99.65% and 97.94%, respectively. Furthermore, the filters exhibited excellent antibacterial properties against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus , and no obvious cytotoxicity was observed in vitro culturing cell. After multiple recycling, the filters still maintained excellent antimicrobial properties and fibrous morphology due to the stable covalent bonds between cellulose acetate and poly (ionic liquids). This is a novel strategy to prepare high-quality air filters, which have great potential applications in air purification. Graphic abstract We fabricated a kind of green electrospinning material with stable antibacterial properties through organic synthesis and molecular design. The introduction of poly (ionic liquids) effectively reduces the diameter of fibers and thus obtains nano-fibrous filters. The removal rate of PM 10 and PM 2.5 particle by the filters reached 99.65% and 97.94%, respectively. Furthermore, the filters exhibit excellent antibacterial properties against E. coli and S. aureus, and no obvious cytotoxicity is observed in vitro culturing cell. After multiple recycling, the filters still maintain excellent antimicrobial properties and fibrous morphology.