Carbon nanotubes / activated carbon fiber based air filter media for simultaneous removal of particulate matter and ozone

•A filter medium was obtained by carbon nanotubes on activated carbon fiber.•The filter medium could remove particulate matter at the H11 level.•The filter medium presented >99% ozone removal efficiency.•The quality factor of the material was higher than other CNTs-based filter media.

Indoor environment is faced with complex pollution by particulate matter (PM) and ozone. In this study, we proposed to use carbon nanotubes/activated carbon fiber (CNTs/ACF) to remove both PM and ozone with high removal efficiencies, high quality factor and low pressure resistance. The CNTs/ACF filter media were fabricated through growth of CNTs upon pristine ACF using chemical vapor deposition method. The PM filtration efficiencies of the CNTs/ACF and pristine ACF were measured for different particle sizes. The quality factors of these two media were calculated and compared. The ozone removal efficiency of the CNTs/ACF and ACF were tested as well. Results indicate that growth of CNTs on ACF elevated the media for PM filtration, and increased the quality factor by 48%. The CNTs/ACF presented >99% ozone removal, as high as the ACF. Compared with other CNTs-based filter media that have been proposed in previous studies, the CNTs/ACF exhibited higher quality factor, much lower pressure resistance, higher ozone removal efficiency, and upper-middle PM filtration efficiency.