Fabrication of Poly(lactic acid) filter media via the meltblowing process and their filtration performances: A comparative study with polypropylene meltblown

• Published in: Separation and purification technology 2021-04, Vol.260, p.118185, Article 118185
• Main Authors: Jafari, Mehran, Shim, Eunkyoung, Joijode, Abhay
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Electrostatic charge; Filtration; Meltblowing; Poly(Lactic) acid (PLA)
• ISSN: 1383-5866; 1873-3794
• DOI: 10.1016/j.seppur.2020.118185

•Higher Processing airflow and low throughput reduce fiber diameter of PLA meltblown media.•Low solidity of PLA media contributes high air permeability.•PLA media shows higher filtration efficiency than PP media with similar fiber diameter.•Corona charging effectively improve filtration performance of PLA meltblown media. Poly(Lactic acid) (PLA) is considered as a promising alternative for petroleum-based synthetic plastic under the rising concerns over the environmental sustainability of polypropylene (PP) filter materials. To adapt PLA for the meltblown filter media production, it is necessary to establish how PLA polymer properties affect the meltblown process, media structure and filtration performance. We investigated the processability and effects of processing parameters on PLA meltblown structures and filtration performances in an industrially relevant setting by utilizing a commercially available low molecular weight PLA resin and a Reicofil meltblowing production line. We were able to fabricate PLA meltblown media comparable with PP meltblown media both in structures and filtration performances. Increasing airflow rate and decrease throughput reduced fiber diameter of PLA meltblown, but at the given processing condition, PLA meltblown tends to have larger fiber diameters than PP meltblown. However, larger diameter did not deteriorate the filtration efficiency of PLA meltblown. Interestingly, the filtration efficiency of PLA meltblown is higher than those of PP meltblown with similar fiber diameters. We also found the solidity of PLA meltblown lower than that of PP meltblown. This further improved filtration performance by improving air permeability. The quality factors of PLA meltblowns were more than double of PP meltblowns’ quality factors when fiber sizes are similar. PLA also exhibited comparable chargeability and charge stability with PP when corona charged.