Facile coating of MnO2 nanoparticles onto polymer fibers via friction-heating adhesion for efficient formaldehyde removal

Loading catalyst nanoparticles onto polymer fibers for the removal of indoor pollutants such as HCHO encounters many problems such as uneven distribution, active site coverage, high cost and environmental pollution. Here we efficiently loaded MnO2 on the surface of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers (MnO2@PET) within 10 s by utilizing the friction heat and mechanical action generated between MnO2 and PET fibers during rapid stirring. The thickness of the MnO2 coating ranged from ∼0.14 µm to 2.19 µm. After initial weight loss of 10.2 ∼ 10.4% in the first 30 min, the composite fibers remained stable weight in the later 150 min during ultrasonic oscillation, indicating the durability and fastness of the MnO2 coating. As-synthesized MnO2@PET composites enabled superior HCHO removal rate (95.5%) and conversion to CO2 (75.5%) within 120 min at room temperature, and it can be easily regenerated at low temperature (60 °C).