title: Amphiphobic Polytetrafluoroethylene Membranes for Efficient Organic Aerosol Removal.
abstract: Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane is an extensively used air filter, but its oleophilicity leads to severe fouling of the membrane surface due to organic aerosol deposition. Herein, we report the fabrication of a new amphiphobic 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyl acrylate (PFDAE)-grafted ZnO@PTFE membrane with enhanced antifouling functionality and high removal efficiency. We use atomic-layer deposition (ALD) to uniformly coat a layer of nanosized ZnO particles onto porous PTFE matrix to increase surface area and then subsequently graft PFDAE with plasma. Consequently, the membrane surface showed both superhydrophobicity and oleophobicity with a water contact angle (WCA) and an oil contact angle (OCA) of 150° and 125°, respectively. The membrane air permeation rate of 513 (m(3) m(-2) h(-1) kPa(-1)) was lower than the pristine membrane rate of 550 (m(3) m(-2) h(-1) kPa(-1)), which indicates the surface modification slightly decreased the membrane air permeation. Significantly, the filtration resistance of this amphiphobic membrane to the oil aerosol system was much lower than the initial one. Moreover, the filter exhibited exceptional organic aerosol removal efficiencies that were greater than 99.5%. These results make the amphiphobic PTFE membranes very promising for organic aerosol-laden air-filtration applications.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, National Engineering Research Center for Special Separation Membrane, Nanjing Tech University , Nanjing 210009, China.
authors.forename: Shasha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, National Engineering Research Center for Special Separation Membrane, Nanjing Tech University , Nanjing 210009, China.
authors.forename: Zhaoxiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, National Engineering Research Center for Special Separation Membrane, Nanjing Tech University , Nanjing 210009, China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, National Engineering Research Center for Special Separation Membrane, Nanjing Tech University , Nanjing 210009, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, National Engineering Research Center for Special Separation Membrane, Nanjing Tech University , Nanjing 210009, China.
authors.forename: Weihong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xing
keywords: PTFE membrane; ZnO; amphiphobic; atomic layer deposition; organic aerosol; plasma