Design of biodegradable cellulose filtration material with high efficiency and breathability

Jukka a. Ketoja; Kaisa Saurio; Hille Rautkoski; Eija Kenttä; Atsushi Tanaka; Antti i. Koponen; Jussi Virkajärvi; Kimmo Heinonen; Katri Kostamo; Anastasia Järvenpää; Niina Hyry; Pirjo Heikkilä; Nelli Hankonen; Ali Harlin

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2024.122133

Design of biodegradable cellulose filtration material with high efficiency and breathability

Jukka a. Ketoja (Corresponding Author), Kaisa Saurio, Hille Rautkoski, Eija Kenttä, Atsushi Tanaka, Antti i. Koponen, Jussi Virkajärvi, Kimmo Heinonen, Katri Kostamo, Anastasia Järvenpää, Niina Hyry, Pirjo Heikkilä, Nelli Hankonen, Ali Harlin

Tampere University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

Abstract

Using respiratory protective equipment is one of the relevant preventive measures for infectious diseases, including COVID-19, and for various occupational respiratory hazards. Because experienced discomfort may result in a decrease in the utilization of respirators, it is important to enhance the material properties to resolve suboptimal usage. We combined several technologies to produce a filtration material that met requirements set by a cross-disciplinary interview study on the usability of protective equipment. Improved breathability, environmental sustainability, and comfort of the material were achieved by electrospinning poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) nanofibers on a thin foam-formed fabric from regenerated cellulose fibers. The high filtration efficiency of sub-micron–sized diethylhexyl sebacate (DEHS) aerosol particles resulted from the small mean segment length of 0.35 μm of the nanofiber network. For a particle diameter of 0.6 μm, the filtration efficiency of a single PEO layer varied in the range of 80–97 % depending on the coat weight. The corresponding pressure drop had the level of 20–90 Pa for the airflow velocity of 5.3 cm/s. Using a multilayer structure, a very high filtration efficiency of 99.5 % was obtained with only a slightly higher pressure drop. This opens a route toward designing sustainable personal protective media with improved user experience.

Original language	English
Article number	122133
Journal	Carbohydrate Polymers
Volume	336
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2024.122133
Publication status	Published - 15 Jul 2024
MoE publication type	A1 Journal article-refereed

Funding

This work was supported by the Academy of Finland (Grant Nos. 340385 and 346702, Project \u201CCitizen Shield \u2013 technological, behavioural and societal solutions for protective actions to tackle pandemics\u201D). We are also grateful for the support from the FinnCERES Materials Bioeconomy Ecosystem and for the information on the regenerated cellulose fibers from Dr. Ingo Bernt at Kelheim Fibres GmbH. The authors would like to thank Ada Aalto and Ekaterina Karvanen for the design demonstrations and Meri Pietil\u00E4 for her assistance in the interview study.

Keywords

Electrospinning
Filtration
Foam forming
Poly(ethylene oxide)
Regenerated cellulose
Usability

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j.carbpol.2024.122133Final published version, 5.53 MBLicence: CC BY

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Ketoja, J. A., Saurio, K., Rautkoski, H., Kenttä, E., Tanaka, A., Koponen, A. I., Virkajärvi, J., Heinonen, K., Kostamo, K., Järvenpää, A., Hyry, N., Heikkilä, P., Hankonen, N., & Harlin, A. (2024). Design of biodegradable cellulose filtration material with high efficiency and breathability. Carbohydrate Polymers, 336, Article 122133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2024.122133

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AU - Tanaka, Atsushi

AU - Koponen, Antti i.

AU - Virkajärvi, Jussi

AU - Heinonen, Kimmo

AU - Kostamo, Katri

AU - Järvenpää, Anastasia

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AU - Heikkilä, Pirjo

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AU - Harlin, Ali

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Design of biodegradable cellulose filtration material with high efficiency and breathability

Abstract

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Keywords

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