Antipathogen nanostructured coating for air filters

摘要

Indoor air quality has great impact on health and wellbeing of the occupants. Although modern air filtration systems assure high air quality, however the filtration media itself needs to be protected from microbial contamination. Low maintenance and dirt accumulation along with humid conditions in air ventilation systems create a suitable environment for the growth of microorganisms on the surfaces. Microbial proliferation undermines both the quality of the filtered air and the filtration apparatus. Contaminated air directly affects occupant's health, comfort and productivity, with an augmented risk of infectious diseases. The aim of this work was the development of an air filter with innovative nanostructured coating, able to confer anti-pathogenic functionalities without altering filtration performance of the filter. The filter was accomplished by depositing a nanostructured composite silver/silica coating on the surface of a glass fibres based nonwoven filter. This developed air filter completely inhibited the growth of microorganisms even when exposed to bioaerosol of high bacterial concentration. The filter showed good antibacterial performance under practical conditions for extended period spanning one month. The innovative nanocomposite coating imparts long lasting antimicrobial properties to improve the performance of the filtration systems enabling them to perform better with minimal maintenance efforts.