Fabrication of an anti-viral air filter with SiO2–Ag nanoparticles and performance evaluation in a continuous airflow condition

Abstract

In this study, SiO2 nanoparticles surface coated with Ag nanoparticles (SA particles) were fabricated to coat a medium air filter. The pressure drop, filtration efficiency, and anti-viral ability of the filter were evaluated against aerosolized bacteriophage MS2 in a continuous air flow condition. A mathematical approach was developed to measure the anti-viral ability of the filter with various virus deposition times. Moreover, two quality factors based on the anti-viral ability of the filter, and a traditional quality factor based on filtration efficiency, were calculated. The filtration efficiency and pressure drop increased with decreasing media velocity and with increasing SA particle coating level. The anti-viral efficiency also increased with increasing SA particle coating level, and decreased by with increasing virus deposition time. Consequently, SA particle coating on a filter does not have significant effects on filtration quality, and there is an optimal coating level to produce the highest anti-viral quality.

Nanomaterials for Airborne Virus Inactivation: A Short Review

“…The strong binding force between Ag and HBV virus hindered the transcription of viral genetic material and the formation of new DNA. Joe et al ( 2014 ) loaded nano-Ag on the SiO 2 surface, and the obtained SiO 2 -Ag (SA) nano-particles were applied on the medium air filter. Under continuous airflow, this study evaluated the pressure drop, filtration efficiency, and anti-virus (MS2) capacity of SA filters.…”

Viral Diagnostics and Preventive Techniques in the Era of COVID-19: Role of Nanoparticles

“…Introduction of NP-based high-efficiency particulate airfilters (HEPA) in health-care centers, airports, and other closed places can effectively eliminate the viral spread. SiO 2 -Ag NPs coated antiviral air filters with a coating density higher than 2.0 × 10 8 cm 2 were reported to reduce the viral infection by 99.9% (Joe et al, 2014). AgNPs-coated filters with nano-TiO 2 were established as an advanced air purifying system in hospitals (Le et al, 2015).…”

Evaluation of Ag nanoparticle coated air filter against aerosolized virus: Anti-viral efficiency with dust loading

“…In our previous study [15], a mathematical model that predicts the temporal anti-viral ability of an anti-viral air filter was suggested as follows:…”

“…Recently, technologies including electrostatic precipitator (ESP), mechanical heating system, and antimicrobial agent (such as tea tree, eucalyptus oil, and carbon nanotube (CNT))-coated air filter have been tested for controlling and inactivating airborne virus particles [11][12][13][14]. In our previous study, aerosolized bacteriophage MS2 virus was inactivated with synthesized SiO 2 -Ag nanoparticles, which were 400 nm silica particles decorated with 30 nm silver nanoparticles [15]. These particles were coated onto filter media using a conventional flow process, and the anti-viral ability of the fabricated filter was tested in the continuous airflow condition.…”

“…The filtration ability of aerosolized MS2 virus particles and pressure drop across the filter with dust loading were evaluated. Then, anti-viral ability with dust loading was evaluated both experimentally and mathematically using a mathematical model, which was upgraded from the model presented in our previous work [15].…”