Characterization of multifunctional PAN / ZnO nanofibrous composite filter for fine dust capture and photocatalytic activity

The multifunctional air filter, which can provide low resistance to airflow, was prepared from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers (NFs) by impregnating zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles (NPs) with photocatalytic activity. Incorporation of ZnO NPs improved the surface roughness and electrostatic charge of electrospun NFs. The PAN/ZnO composite filter with 12 wt%‐ZnO showed a filtration efficiency of 98.8% and a pressure drop of 48 Pa for 300 nm aerosol particles, resulting in a quality factor of 0.092 Pa −1 . In addition, PAN/ZnO composite exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity in methylene blue (MB) decomposition at 100 and 70.2% efficiencies, respectively, under UV and visible light.