What is it about?
Particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) and Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are the main pollutants known to cause a nuisance in the environment and are very hazardous to health. A washable air-filter applicable for filtration of PM as well as VOCs with long operational life is very scarce. The paper talks about a novel washable air-filter fabricated using polyester mesh-network coated with Sericin for efficient removal of particulate matter as well as VOCs (BTEX) form indoor air.
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Why is it important?
A washable air-filter for filtration of PM as well as VOCs is commercially non-existent. The most frequent used air-filters (like HEPA and ULPA filters) are very efficient with PM removal but lacks in removing VOCs. Most often additional unit with activated carbon has to be used to mitigate this issue. Moreover, the operational life of these filters is short. The significant finding of this research reveals that: (a) Sericin coating enables efficient capturing of PM as well as BTEX from contaminated air (b) The hydrophilic sericin coating helps in easy removal of contaminants and hence less fouling and better reusability.
Perspectives
Working for this article was an awesome experience as it has co-authors who are very seasoned and experienced in their respective fields of membrane technology and air purification. I hope the research work presented in this article encourages readers and researchers to explore more on washable air-filters where multiple pollutants can be targetted. This article also encourages readers to explore the use of sericin bipolymer and similar polymers for different applications.
Dr. Vishal Kumar Verma
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Sericin-coated polyester based air-filter for removal of particulate matter and volatile organic compounds (BTEX) from indoor air, Chemosphere, December 2019, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.124462.
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