Journal of Environmental Health and Sustainable Development

en Electrospun Polyurethane/β-Cyclodextrin Composite Membranes for Aerosol Filtration and Adsorption of Volatile Organic Compounds from the Air Environmental Health, Sciences, and Engineering Original articles <div style="text-align: justify;">Introduction: Electrospun nanomembranes have been used for effective air filtration due to their potential for active surface modification. This study aims to synthesize polyurethane (PU) nanofiber membrane incorporated with different amounts of β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) to capture volatile organic compounds (VOCs) along with aerosol filtration from the air. Material and Methods: First, PU was synthesized by MDI method. A 10 wt% PU solution in DMF/MEK (1:1 wt) was prepared. Various amounts of β-CD powder (0, 1, 2, 3, and 5 wt% of PU) were dispersed in the prepared PU solution. Electrospining process was carried out under determined parameters (20 kV applied voltage, tip-to-collector distance of 10 cm, solution feed, and rate of 1 ml/h). The chemical structure and morphology of the produced samples were assessed by FTIR and SEM, respectively. Finally, air filtration and toluene adsorption of different electrospun membranes were measured. Results: The highest filtration performance was observed for PU with 1 wt% β-CD nanofiber. Due to increased efficiency (83.13%) and low-pressure drop (∆P = 19 pa), this sample had a considerable quality parameter. The results demonstrated that the membrane loaded with β-CD was able to adsorb hazardous and carcinogenic VOCs. It was confirmed that adding β-CD into PU improves the adsorption capacity due to forming a π complex and having a different tendency against capturing a variety of VOCs. Conclusion: The study results revealed that the PU nanofiber incorporated with β-CD, along with the ease of regeneration, can make them attractive for air filtration and VOCs adsorption.</div> Nanofibers, Volatile Organic Compounds, Adsorption, Air Pollutants, Filtration. 1684 1697 http://jehsd.ssu.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-419-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Nasim Mostofi Sarkari nasimmostofis@gmail.com 0000-0002-3392-5750 No Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Health, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. Yahya Rasoulzadeh rasoulzadehy@tbzmed.ac.ir 0000-0003-4499-5153 No Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Health, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. Saeed Musavi musavis@tbzmed.ac.ir 0000-0001-7424-5770 No Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Faculty of Health, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. Gholamreza Moradi moradig@tbzmed.ac.ir 0000-0002-4459-8468 Yes Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Health, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. Peymaneh Habibi paymanehhabibi@gmail.com 0000-0001-8150-1576 No Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.