Thermally Stable, Thin, Ultralight, Reusable, and Flexible Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Membranes for Removal of Heavy Metals, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, and Particulates from Coal Smoke

Rapid industrialization, haphazardous urbanization, andruthlessburning of fossil fuel have alarmingly impacted human health and theenvironment. The majority of health issues, such as asthma, cardiovasculardisease, and cancer, are primarily associated with polyaromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs), particulate matter (PM), nickel (Ni) and cadmium (Cd) heavymetals, and other contaminants. To address these challenges, the developmentof an efficient air filtration unit to remove the toxic substancesfrom the smoke is a necessity. The majority of the recently developedair filters are architecturally monotonous and bulky and suffer froma trade-off between removal effectiveness and air permeability. Herein,we have proposed an air filter which is scalable, ultralight (& SIM;0.0034g), thin (& SIM;50 & mu;m), thermally stable (& SIM;500 & DEG;C),hydrophobic (contact angle 138 & DEG; & PLUSMN; 6 & DEG;), and porous (porosityof & SIM;57%) with a pore size of & SIM;16 nm and has an effectivepacking density of & SIM;0.64 g/cm(3). The self-assemblednanoarchitecture network (nanonetwork) air filter has a relativelylower pressure drop (& SIM;133.3 Pa) and can remove & SIM;99%,& SIM;99%, and & SIM;90% and 50% for PAHs, PM, and Ni and Cd heavymetals, respectively. This research will be highly beneficial fordesigning and developing high-performance fibrous materials for filteringand separation applications.