Fabrication of an anti-viral air filter with SiO2–Ag nanoparticles and performance evaluation in a continuous airflow condition

•SiO2 particles surface coated with Ag particles were fabricated to coat an air filter.•An anti-viral ability of the filter was evaluated against aerosolized virus particles.•A mathematical approach of an anti-viral ability of the air filter was developed.•A quality factor based on an anti-viral ability of the air filter was proposed. In this study, SiO2 nanoparticles surface coated with Ag nanoparticles (SA particles) were fabricated to coat a medium air filter. The pressure drop, filtration efficiency, and anti-viral ability of the filter were evaluated against aerosolized bacteriophage MS2 in a continuous air flow condition. A mathematical approach was developed to measure the anti-viral ability of the filter with various virus deposition times. Moreover, two quality factors based on the anti-viral ability of the filter, and a traditional quality factor based on filtration efficiency, were calculated. The filtration efficiency and pressure drop increased with decreasing media velocity and with increasing SA particle coating level. The anti-viral efficiency also increased with increasing SA particle coating level, and decreased by with increasing virus deposition time. Consequently, SA particle coating on a filter does not have significant effects on filtration quality, and there is an optimal coating level to produce the highest anti-viral quality.