Hybrid Nanomanufacturing of Gas-controlled Electrospin/spray for Breathable Composite PPE*

The ever-increasing need for lightweight, high performance personal protective equipment (PPE) is seen across multiple sectors such as manufacturers, defense, and medical. While functional membranes composed nanocomposites had existed for decades, the biggest challenge for the next-gen PPE has been to meet the textile/comfort requirements while meeting the metrics of solid/liquid/gas protection. Nonwoven nanofibers field the unique capability of being breathable with a large surface area with tiny pores to protect oneself from chemical and biological hazards. Herein is an investigation of parallel electrospinning polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) or polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fibers spun in conjunction with electrospraying metal-organic frameworks (MOF) nano-microparticles that provides both breathable scaffold filters with highly reactive MOF sites with mass wt.% loading as high as 70-80 wt% of the composite. A novel gas-controlled electrospinning/electrospray has been implemented which enable uniform deposition of the composite membrane without use of any binder. Processing parameters and its implication on loading, morphology, and throughput is discussed. The processing-structure-property relationships of the said method are examined with textile functionalities in mind, such as air permeability, water vapor transmission rate, and its protection and gas-soprtion capabilities such as air particle filtration.