Effect of the test aerosol charge on the penetration through electret filter

[Display omitted] ► Development of a method of parallel measurements of aerosol charge and filter penetration. ► Determination of the surface charge density of particles. ► Demonstration of the increase in penetration when neutralizing an electret filter. ► Emphazing the strong effect of particle charge on the filtration efficiency of charged filters. This study deals with the performance of an electret filter towards submicronic aerosol and particularly the dependence of its penetration with the charge distribution of the aerosol and a neutralization effect. An experimental set-up was developed to determine simultaneously the charge density of the aerosol and the filter penetration. It appears that the penetration of electret filters is all the more low that the charge per unit surface of a particle is important. The effect of a neutralization of the filter damages dramatically the performance of the filter.