Bifunctional Activated Carbon Ultrathin Fibers: Combining the Removal of VOCs and PM in One Material

Abstract

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and particulate matter (PM) are both frequently present in air as contaminants, posing serious health and environmental hazards. The current filtration of VOCs utilizes entirely different materials compared with PM filtration, adding complexity to air cleaning system. Herein, we design a pitch-based activated carbon ultrathin fibers (PACUFs) for bifunctional air purification. The PACUFs, with fiber diameter of ∼1.2 µm and specific surface area of 2341 m² g⁻¹, provide both high VOCs adsorption capacity (∼706 mg g⁻¹) and excellent efficiency of ∼97% PM_0.3 filtration with low pressure drop. In contrast, traditional activated carbon fibers exhibit VOCs adsorption capacity of ∼448 mg g⁻¹ and PM_0.3 removal efficiency of only ∼36% at an equal area density of ∼190 g m⁻². Theoretical investigations reveal the filtration mechanism of the high-performance bifunctional fibrous PACUFs, considering full advantages of the high surface area, small pore size, and significant micropore volume.