Antibacterial polyurethane/polyacrylonitrile Janus nanofibrous membrane with unidirectional moisture transfer property for improving the wearing comfort

Personal protective equipment (PPE) is of great importance to protect people from respiratory pollutants such as fine dust and pathogenic microorganisms. Besides, the accumulated water vapor caused by breathing during long-term wearing PPE would bring discomfort to people. Herein, an antimicrobial polyurethane/polyacrylonitrile (PU/PAN) Janus membrane with unidirectional moisture management properties was fabricated using layer-by-layer electrospinning technology. As expected, unidirectional moisture transfer was achieved within 28 s, and the excellent filter efficiency of 99.20% against PM 1.0 and the bacteria retention capacity of 100% effectively purify the flowing air. In addition, the secondary infection can be avoided since the antimicrobial quaternary ammonium unit was chemically anchored to the Janus membrane. Therefore, the present PU/PAN Janus electrospun membrane as the part of PPE is supposed to improve the wearing comfort and meet the requirements of preventing contamination by bacteria, aerosols and other pollutants in air.