Fabrication of a carbon/polytetrafluoroethylene nanoparticle-coated antistatic bag filter using air-assisted electrospraying

[Display omitted] •Antistatic filter is coated with nanoparticles by air-assisted electrospray method.•Carbon:PTFE 1:1 ratio showed the highest resistance and the best hydrophobicity.•Antistatic filter coated with nanoparticles showed superior conductivity and charging characteristics.•Coated filter exhibited enhanced filtration performance at all particle ranges. Fabric bag filters have been widely used as air pollution control equipment owing to their high collection efficiency. However, the low efficiency of the fabric filtration method against fine dust and the high operating cost owing to the high-pressure drop have restricted its effective application. In addition, the filling of the fabric of bag filters by the passage of gas and deposited charged dust particles results in the generation of a static electricity that can cause a fire. To solve this problem, this study aimed to develop an antistatic filter by electrospraying carbon nanoparticles. The surface properties and conductivity of the antistatic filter as a function of the mixing ratio were compared, and the particle filtration performance as a function of the coating type was confirmed by evaluating the filter filtration performance. The results revealed that among the samples that exhibited conductivity, the sample with a mixing ratio of 1:1 exhibited the highest resistance value and best hydrophobicity. In addition, the filter performance evaluation revealed that the coated filter exhibited enhanced filtration performance compared to the uncoated filter at all particle ranges.