JP2009297058A - Harmful substance removing material and harmful substance removal method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a harmful substance removing material for clarifying a gas containing a harmful substance by a simple method. <P>SOLUTION: The harmful substance removing material comprises a carrier carrying microbes on the surface, and the carrier comprises fibers containing a water-absorbing polymer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a harmful substance removing material comprising a carrier carrying microorganisms, and a harmful substance removing method using the same.

  In recent years, infectious diseases caused by bacteria, molds, viruses, and the like have become a social problem. For example, there are concerns about mass infection in hospitals and places where a large number of unspecified people gather such as public facilities. In particular, infection in hospitals may cause the occurrence of MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and the like due to the abuse of antibiotics.

  In this regard, in recent buildings, ducts are provided in all rooms, and air is circulated through these ducts to adjust the room temperature etc. of the entire building, so that the inside of the facility floats through this air conditioner. Bacteria, molds, viruses, and the like often diffuse throughout the facility, and it has been considered that it is particularly effective to block infection routes using such air as a medium. In other words, bacteria, mold, viruses, or fine suspended matters in the air (dust, etc.) are adsorbed on fine filters as air media such as air conditioners and air purifiers, and titanium oxide or strong acidity. The sterilization zone is provided to inactivate and remove bacteria, molds, viruses, and the like that pass through the sterilization zone.

  In Patent Document 1, a biological filter filled with a plurality of microorganism carriers having microorganisms supported on the surface layer portion is provided at an upper position of the grease trap apparatus, and the inside of the biological filter is maintained in an aerobic atmosphere. Is supplied to the biological filter, and the biofilm-filtered waste water is discharged from the biological filter. Patent Document 1 relates to a filter for wastewater treatment, and is not for purifying gas.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a method for treating a gas containing a toxic substance in a closed system in which a gas generation source containing a toxic substance and a water storage tank for receiving a liquid are hermetically connected by a gas flow pipe. By forcibly entraining the gas containing harmful substances in contact with water by flowing the water containing harmful substances from the source into the water tank in a manner that prevents the aqueous medium from flowing backward into the water tank. And a method for treating a gas containing a harmful substance, comprising the step of recovering the harmful substance as a liquid dissolved or mixed in a water storage tank. In the method of Patent Document 2, a gas containing a harmful substance is once collected by passing it through a water storage tank, and the collected liquid is brought into contact with the adsorbed material to treat the gas. However, since it takes time for the decomposition treatment, the liquid needs to be retained during that time. Further, there is a problem that the process becomes complicated in addition to the increase in size of the equipment. Further, the method of Patent Document 2 does not use a membrane filter.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-18460 JP 2001-120954 A

  This invention made it the problem which should be solved to provide the harmful substance removal material which can purify | clean the gas containing a harmful substance by a simple method. Moreover, this invention made it the problem which should be solved to provide the efficient harmful substance removal method using the said hazardous substance removal material.

  As a result of intensive studies to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present inventors can provide a harmful substance removing material that can efficiently purify gas by supporting microorganisms on the surface of a carrier comprising a fiber containing a water-absorbing polymer. As a result, the present invention has been completed.

That is, according to the present invention, a harmful substance removing material for purifying gas containing harmful substances, comprising a carrier carrying microorganisms on the surface, the carrier comprising a fiber containing a water-absorbing polymer. A hazardous substance removal material is provided.
Preferably, the microorganism is an aerobic microorganism.
Preferably, the carrier is a carrier composed of fibers mainly composed of at least one of cellulose ester, polyamide, vinylon, and polyurethane.
Preferably, the microorganism is Corynebacterium sp. It consists of one or more microorganisms selected from the genus Bacter, Nitrococcus and Nitrospira.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for removing harmful substances including removing harmful substances in a gas phase using the above-described hazardous substance removing material of the present invention.

  According to the hazardous substance removing material of the present invention, it is possible to purify a gas containing a harmful substance by a simple method. In the present invention, by collecting harmful substances on a filter and then treating them with microorganisms, the contact time with a medium containing harmful substances can be shortened, and gas can be efficiently purified from harmful substances. Can do. In addition, by making the carrier carrying microorganisms into the shape of a filter, microorganism treatment in the gas phase can be performed. In addition, handling is improved, and simple and low-cost processing is possible. According to the present invention, an air cleaner or a liquid cleaner that can efficiently remove harmful substances in the gas phase can be produced, which is very useful in the industry.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail.
The hazardous substance removing material of the present invention is a hazardous substance removing material for purifying a gas containing a harmful substance, comprising a carrier carrying microorganisms on the surface, and the carrier comprising a fiber containing a water-absorbing polymer. It is characterized by being.

  The microorganism used in the present invention is selected from an aerobic or anaerobic microorganism group, but is preferably selected from an aerobic microorganism group. Moreover, together with the selected microorganism group, enzymes derived from these metabolites and carbon-degrading enzymes may be included.

  Specific examples of anaerobic microorganisms include anaerobic archaea such as Methanobacteria, Methanosarcina, Methanobacteria, Acetobacteria, Desulfobacteria, Desulfonil, Dehalospirillum , Dehalobacter genus, Dehalobacteria genus, Dehalococcoides genus, Clostridium genus, Citrobacter genus, Escherichia genus, Enterobacter genus, Serratia genus, Proteus genus, Schwanella genus, Staphylococcus genus And facultative anaerobic bacteria.

  Examples of aerobic microorganisms include Corynebacterium, Rhodococcus, Streptomyces, Thiobacils, Hyphomicrobium, Alkaligenes, Oklobactrum, Nitrosomonas, Nitrosococcus, Nitrosospira, Nitrosorbus, Examples include the genus Nitrobacter, Nitrococcus, Nitrospira, Sphingomonas, Burkholderia, Ralstonia, Pseudomonas, Nocardioides, Terrabacter, Janibacter, and Bacillus. The microorganism species to be selected may be a single species or a plurality of species.

  As the microorganism used in the present invention, preferably, Corynebacterium, Rhodococcus, Streptomyces, Thiobacils, Hyphomicrobium, Alkagenes, Okrobactrum, Nitrosomonas, Nitrosococcus, Nitrosospira, Nitrosorbus , Nitrobacter genus, Nitrococcus genus, Nitrospira genus, Sphingomonas genus, Burkholideria genus, Ralstonia genus, Pseudomonas genus, Nocardioides genus, Terrabacter genus, Janibacter genus, Bacillus genus, more preferably Corynebacterium genus, Rhodococcus genus, Streptomyces genus, Thiobacils genus, Hyphomicrobium genus, Alcaligenes genus, Ochrobactrum genus, Nitrosomonas genus, Nitrosococcus genus, Nitrosospira genus, Nitrosolobas , Nitro genus, nitro genus, is a nitrospira.

  Regarding the introduction of the microorganism, the culture may be performed using an appropriate medium, or a commercially available product may be introduced. Examples of commercially available products include SHB5800NT (Morita Main Store Co., Ltd.), BFL5800NT (made by Meito Chemical Co., Ltd.), etc. The hazardous substance removing material of the present invention is obtained.

The number of bacteria carried on the filter surface is generally 10 ² to 10 ⁹ CFU / g, preferably 10 ³ to 10 ⁸ CFU / g, more preferably 10 ⁴ to 10 ⁷ CFU per unit mass of the filter. / G.

  The method for measuring the number of viable bacteria is described below. 1 g of a sample carrying bacteria is crushed with 100 ml of pure water by a blender to prepare a suspension. 1 mL of the suspension is dropped onto a transparent film and cultured at 36-38 ° C. for 22-26 hours. The number of colonies of bacteria produced on the cultured film can be measured, and the number of bacteria on the filter can be calculated from the dilution factor.

  The average fiber diameter of the fibers used in the present invention is preferably 1 μm or less, preferably 10 nm or more and 1 μm or less, more preferably 20 nm or more and 700 nm or less. In addition, an average fiber diameter can be calculated | required by measuring the diameter in the fiber in arbitrary places (for example, 300 places etc.) from the observation image of a scanning electron microscope (SEM), and arithmetically averaging it.

  The carrier used in the present invention is a carrier made of fibers containing a water-absorbing polymer. The main fiber forming the carrier is preferably a fiber mainly composed of at least one of cellulose ester, polyamide, vinylon, and polyurethane. The main component as used in the field of this invention refers to the component which comprises 25% or more in the mass fraction in all the fibers.

  The cellulose ester in the present invention refers to a cellulose derivative in which the hydroxyl group of cellulose is esterified with an organic acid. Examples of organic acids used for esterification include fatty carboxylic acids such as acetic acid, propionic acid, and butyric acid, and aromatic carboxylic acids such as benzoic acid and salicylic acid. It may be used alone or in combination. Although there is no restriction | limiting in particular about the ester group substitution rate of the hydroxyl group of a cellulose, It is preferable that it is 60% or more.

  Among the main group of materials forming the carrier in the present invention, cellulose acetate fiber is desirable. Cellulose acylate refers to a cellulose ester in which some or all of the hydrogen atoms constituting the hydroxyl group of cellulose are substituted with acyl groups. Examples of the acyl group include an acetyl group, a propionyl group, and a butyryl group. These groups may be constituted by replacing only one kind, or two or more kinds of acyl groups may be mixed and substituted. The total acyl group substitution degree is preferably 2.0 to 3.0, more preferably 2.1 to 2.8, and particularly preferably 2.2 to 2.7. Among these, cellulose acetate, cellulose acetate propionate, or cellulose acetate butyrate that satisfies this degree of substitution is preferable, and cellulose acetate is most preferable. Cellulose acetate is generally known to have a different solvent depending on the degree of esterification, but after preparing a carrier with cellulose acetate having a high esterification rate in advance, the surface is hydrophilized by alkali hydrolysis treatment or the like. May be.

  Although it is possible to form a sufficiently practical harmful substance removal material using only cellulose acylate fiber, polyester fiber, polyolefin fiber, and polyamide fiber are used for the purpose of further improving strength and dimensional stability. The carrier may be formed of a blended fiber such as a fiber or an acrylic fiber. When blended fiber is used, the mass fraction of the cellulose acylate fiber is desirably 50% or more, and more desirably 70% or more.

  Of the main group of materials forming the carrier in the present invention, it is also desirable to be a polyamide fiber.

  The polyamide in the present invention refers to a fiber made of a linear polymer having an amide bond in a chemical structural unit.

  Among polyamides, a linear chain that is a combination of an aliphatic diamine such as ethylenediamine, 1-methylethylenediamine, 1,3-propylenediamine, and hexamethylenediamine and an aliphatic dicarboxylic acid such as malonic acid, succinic acid, and adipic acid. Type aliphatic polyamides are preferred. Nylon 66 is particularly preferable.

  Fats using lactams such as ε-caprolactam and laurolactam, aminocarboxylic acids such as aminocaproic acid and aminoundecanoic acid, para-aminomethylbenzoic acid and the like alone or as a copolymer component in addition to the diamine and dicarboxylic acid. A group polyamide can also be used. In particular, nylon 6 produced by using ε-caprolactam alone is preferable.

  In addition to these, some or all of the aliphatic diamines used as raw materials are alicyclic diamines such as cyclohexanediamine, 1,3-bis (aminomethyl) cyclohexane, and 1,4-bis (aminomethyl) cyclohexane. An aliphatic polyamide using an alicyclic dicarboxylic acid such as 1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid, hexahydroterephthalic acid, hexahydroisophthalic acid or the like may be used as an aromatic polyamide and / or as a dicarboxylic acid. .

  Furthermore, by using aromatic diamines such as aliphatic paraxylylenediamine (PXDA) and metaxylylenediamine (MXDA), and aromatic dicarboxylic acids such as terephthalic acid as partial raw materials, water absorption is reduced and elastic modulus is improved. Also included is a polyamide that achieves the above. Moreover, the polymer which has an amide bond in a side chain like polyacrylic acid amide, poly (N-methylacrylic acid amide), poly (N, N-dimethylacrylic acid amide), etc. may be sufficient.

  Most preferred of the polyamides is nylon 66 or nylon 6. Appropriate hygroscopicity derived from amide bonds, easy to orient the molecular chain consisting of long chain fatty acids of appropriate length, relatively high stretchability, high heat of fusion and large heat capacity It is difficult to melt in terms of kinetics (melt resistance), the flexibility of molecular chains consisting of long-chain fatty chains, and the property that fibrillation and kink bands do not easily occur due to the formation of hydrogen bonds between amide bonds. This is because the properties preferable for the carrier of the present invention such as flexibility can be utilized.

  A polyamide having an amide bond in the chemical structural unit in the side chain instead of the main chain can also be preferably used. Polyacrylamide such as poly (N-isopropylacrylamide), poly (N, N′-dimethylacrylamide), and poly (N-hexylacrylamide) can be used. In general, polymers with amide bonds in the side chains are highly hydrophilic and easily swell and deform, so they are hydrophobized by methods such as forming physical crosslinks or introducing alkyl groups using gelation. It is desirable.

  Similarly, for the purpose of improving strength and dimensional stability, the carrier may be reinforced with other appropriate structural materials such as metal, polymer material, ceramics and the like. These reinforcing materials are desirably used for portions other than the substantially outermost surface of the side surface to which the harmful substance removing material is supplied (for example, used on the opposite surface of the side surface or a core material).

  The vinylon in the present invention refers to a fiber made of a linear polymer containing 65% by mass or more of vinyl alcohol units, and having a moisture content of less than 7% after being left for 1 week or longer in an environment of temperature 20 ° C. and humidity 65%. . It may be a formalized hydroxyl group of vinyl alcohol, but it is a non-formalized fiber that has been subjected to water resistance treatment by a polymer such as a boric acid-crosslinked hydroxyl group or a known alkali spinning method or cooling gel spinning method. It may be. Components other than vinyl alcohol units may include ethylene chains, vinyl acetate chains, etc., but fibers formed from vinyl alcohol carriers are preferred. Furthermore, it is most desirable to be a non-formalized fiber by cooling gel spinning in that it is homogeneous and has a high degree of orientation and crystallinity, so that excellent mechanical properties and reliability can be obtained.

  In general, vinylon is superior to other fibers in terms of high strength, high elastic modulus, moderate hydrophilicity, weather resistance, chemical resistance, adhesion, and the like.

  The polyurethane used in the present invention refers to a fiber composed of a linear synthetic polymer in which the bonding portion between monomers or the bonding portion between base polymer materials is mainly urethane bonds. It is desirable that the polyurethane segment contains 85% or more by mass ratio. It is desirable to be a block copolymer of a segmented polyurethane composed of a soft segment having a low melting point and a soft molecular weight of up to several thousand, and a hard segment having a high melting point and rigidity and high cohesion. Polyethers such as polypropylene glycol and polytetramethylene glycol can be used as the soft segment, and urethane groups formed from 4,4'-diphenylmethane diisocyanate, m-xylene diisocyanate, and the like can be used as the hard segment. Polyurethane is generally characterized by high elasticity. It varies depending on the temporary structure of the polymer chain, such as the chemical structure and distribution of both segments, and on the difference in secondary structure resulting from differences in the spinning conditions, but it stretches well. It has characteristics such as high resilience, resistance to aging compared to rubber materials, and thin fibers can be obtained, and these properties can be utilized even when used as a carrier of the present invention.

  Regarding the mechanical properties and dimensional stability of the fibers constituting the carrier, it is desirable that the elongation at drying is 25% or more. Here, the elongation at drying refers to the breaking elongation in a tensile test at 20 ° C. of the fiber dried over a sufficiently long time. In general, it is preferable that the elongation at drying is 10% or more and that it is suitable for processing such as cloth making is 25% or more in order to prevent filter processing and breakage during practical use (leading to a decrease in filtration efficiency). % Or more is more preferable, and 35% or more is most preferable.

  The official moisture content of the fibers constituting the carrier is preferably 1.0% or more and less than 7.0%, more preferably 3.0% or more and less than 6.7%, and more preferably 5.0% or more and 6% or less. Most preferably, it is less than 5%. At the official moisture content in this area, the activity of the supported microorganisms can be expressed, and the mechanical strength, rigidity, and dimensional stability of the environment (especially humidity) can be obtained. Can do.

  The moisture content referred to here is the official moisture content, and the official moisture content is the moisture content contained in the fiber when the fiber is left in an environment of 20 ° C. and a relative humidity of 65% for a long time. Point to. In the case of a blended fiber with other fibers, the official moisture content of the entire blended fiber is indicated.

  The surface of the fiber constituting the carrier preferably has a fine concavo-convex structure on the scale of several tens of nanometers to several micrometers. The shape of the irregularities may be a three-dimensional shape such as a groove or streak formed in a direction parallel to the fiber direction, or a groove or streak formed perpendicular to the fiber direction, that is, concentrically with respect to the axis. Three-dimensional shapes may be used, and these three-dimensional shapes formed at an arbitrary angle from the direction parallel to the fiber direction to the vertical direction may exist at an arbitrary ratio and density. Samples obtained by the known cellulose acetate fiber spinning method are known to form a chrysanthemum shape with an indefinite fiber cross section due to the formation of a skin layer on the surface layer and the depression of the skin layer accompanying solvent drying. This unevenness is also a preferred form in the present invention.

  The fine concavo-convex structure on the nanometer to micrometer scale may be a hole and / or a protrusion. The average diameter is preferably 50 nm to 1 μm of holes or protrusions. These vacancies and protrusions are formed in a spinning process by a method such as using a solution in which cavitation of a solution or a fine dispersoid is dispersed (for example, mixing with a slurry in which barium sulfate particles are dispersed), It can be formed in a subsequent step by a method such as hydrolysis of the group or surface oxidation treatment (for example, the surface of the fiber is celluloseized with an aqueous alkali solution and then the microcrater is expressed on the fiber surface by enzyme treatment).

  The fiber used in the present invention can be produced by a general production method such as melt spinning, wet spinning, dry spinning, wet drying spinning, or physical treatment (for example, strong mechanical shearing treatment using an ultra-high pressure homogenizer). In order to ensure stable quality, it is preferable to use dry spinning or wet dry spinning. In order to produce uniform fibers with an average fiber diameter of 100 nm or less, further processing techniques, 2005, 40, No. 2, 101, and 167; Polymer International, 1995, 36, 195- 201; Polymer Preprints, 2000, 41 (2), 1193; Journal of Macromolecular Science: Physics, 1997, B36, 169, etc. It is preferable to employ the electrospinning method.

  Solvents used for spinning include chlorinated solvents such as methylene chloride, chloroform and dichloroethane, amide solvents such as dimethylformamide, dimethylacetamide and N-methylpyrrolidone, and ketones such as acetone, ethyl methyl ketone, methyl isopropyl ketone and cyclohexanone. Any solvent that dissolves the resin used for the synthetic resin fiber, such as a solvent, an ether solvent such as THF or diethyl ether, or an alcohol solvent such as methanol, ethanol, or isopropanol can be used. These solvents may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

  When the electrospinning method is employed, a salt such as lithium chloride, lithium bromide, potassium chloride, or sodium chloride may be further added to the resin solution.

  It is desirable that the fibers constituting the carrier of the harmful substance removing material of the present invention have a structure in which a three-dimensional network is formed by partial adhesion. By adopting such a structure, it is possible to improve processing and practical mechanical resistance, and to improve the reliability of the hazardous substance removing material. Further, the retention characteristics of the microorganism of the present invention can be improved. The adhesion between fibers can be observed by a method such as SEM. The density of the bonding points between the fibers is preferably 10 or more per 1 mm square with respect to the projected surface area of the harmful substance removing material, and more preferably 100 or more.

  As a method for forming an adhesion point, it may be formed by an adhesion formed by a dry spinning method or a fusion point formed by a melt spinning method, or after spinning, addition of an adhesive, a plasticizing solvent, etc. You may perform the adhesion point formation process by. From the viewpoint of production cost, it is preferable to form adhesion points by a dry spinning method using an appropriate solution formulation.

  In the present invention, in addition to microorganisms, various harmful substance removing elements may be supported on a carrier as necessary. Specific examples of the harmful substance removing element include enzymes, antibodies, antibacterial agents, antifungal agents, catalysts, and ferroelectric materials.

  As the enzyme, a hydrolase such as lipase or a proteolytic enzyme such as protease can be used, but is not limited thereto.

  The type of antibody corresponds to the type of harmful substance that can be captured. Examples of harmful substances captured by antibodies include bacteria, molds, viruses, allergens, and mycoplasmas. Specifically, examples of bacteria include gram-positive bacteria, Staphylococcus (S. aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis), micrococcus, anthrax, cereus, Bacillus subtilis, acne, and gram-negative bacteria. And Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Serratia, Sephacia, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Legionella, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Examples of molds include Aspergillus, Penicillius, and Cladosporium. Examples of the virus include influenza virus, coronavirus (SARS virus), adenovirus, rhinovirus and the like. Examples of allergens include pollen, mite allergen, cat allergen and the like.

  Examples of the antibacterial and antifungal agents include organic silicon quaternary ammonium salts, organic quaternary ammonium salts, biguanides, polyphenols, chitosan, silver-supporting colloidal silica, and zeolite-supporting silver. The processing method includes impregnating or applying an antibacterial / antifungal agent to a fiber carrier, or a raw yarn raw cotton modified with an antibacterial / antifungal agent in the synthesis stage of the fibers constituting the carrier. There is a quality law.

Examples of the catalyst include, but are not limited to, a photocatalyst such as titanium oxide.
Examples of the ferroelectric material include, but are not limited to, vinylidene fluoride-based and polyamide-based polymers.

  The harmful substance removing material of the present invention can be applied to filters, masks, wipes, cloths, wallpaper, sheets, curtains and the like for air purifiers.

  When used as a filter for an air purifier, any known filter such as a prefilter for removing coarse dust, a dust removal filter, a photocatalytic filter exhibiting a deodorizing effect, an antibacterial filter for removing other harmful substances, a VOC adsorption filter, etc. It may be used in combination with a filter.

  The features of the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to examples and comparative examples. The materials, amounts used, ratios, processing details, processing procedures, and the like shown in the following examples can be changed as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited by the specific examples shown below.

(Example 1)
A 10% by mass solution of ethyl cellulose in tetrahydrofuran was prepared, and a nonwoven fabric composed of fibers having a diameter of 200 nm was prepared using the apparatus shown in FIG. Next, BFL5800NT (made by Meito Chemical Co., Ltd., including microorganisms belonging to the genus Nitrosomonas) is dissolved in warm water of about 30 ° C. so that the concentration becomes 10% by mass, and the nonwoven fabric is immersed in the dissolved liquid for 12 hours. It was made to dry at room temperature and the nonwoven fabric N-1 was obtained. The number of bacteria carried on the filter surface was 10 ⁵ CFU / g per unit mass of the filter.

(Comparative Example 1)
In Example 1, a nonwoven fabric H-1 was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that it was immersed in pure water instead of the solution containing BFL5800NT.

(Example 2)
A 10% by mass solution of nylon 6,6 formic acid was prepared, and a nonwoven fabric composed of fibers having a diameter of 700 nm and a micropore diameter of 75 nm was prepared using the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 in an environment of 50% humidity. Next, a bacto gun (Aquamax, including microorganisms of the genus Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter) is dissolved in warm water of about 30 ° C. so that the concentration becomes 10% by mass, and the nonwoven fabric is immersed in the dissolved liquid for 12 hours. Then, it was made to dry at room temperature and the nonwoven fabric N-2 was obtained. The number of bacteria carried on the filter surface was 10 ⁵ CFU / g per unit mass of the filter.

(Comparative Example 2)
In Example 2, a non-woven fabric H-2 was obtained in the same manner as in Example 2 except that it was immersed in pure water instead of the solution containing the bacto gun.

(Comparative Example 3)
In Example 1, a non-working cloth H-3 was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a 10% by mass solution of polyacrylonitrile in N, N-dimethylformamide was used instead of the 10% by mass solution of ethyl cellulose in tetrahydrofuran.

(Toxic substance removal test)
The nonwoven fabrics N-1 to 2 and H-1 to 3 were attached to an air cleaner, respectively, and the air cleaner was installed in a closed space (volume 0.2 m ³ ) adjusted to an ammonia concentration of 10 ppm. The air cleaner was driven and the ammonia concentration after 15 minutes was measured with a detector tube. The results are shown in Table 1.

FIG. 1 shows the electrospinning apparatus used in the examples.

Explanation of symbols

11 Power supply device 12 Syringe 13 Needle 14 Collector 15 Polymer solution 16 Nanofiber

Claims (5)

A hazardous substance-removing material comprising a carrier carrying microorganisms on the surface, the carrier comprising a fiber containing a water-absorbing polymer. The hazardous substance removing material according to claim 1, wherein the microorganism is an aerobic microorganism. The hazardous substance removing material according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the carrier is a carrier composed of fibers mainly composed of at least one of cellulose ester, polyamide, vinylon, and polyurethane. The microorganism is Corynebacterium, Rhodococcus, Streptomyces, Thiobacils, Hyphomicrobium, Alkagenes, Ocrobactrum, Nitrosomonas, Nitrosococcus, Nitrosospyra, Nitrosorbus, Nitrobacter, The hazardous substance removing material according to any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising one or more kinds of microorganisms selected from the genus Nitrococcus and Nitrospira. A method for removing harmful substances, comprising removing harmful substances in a gas phase using the hazardous substance removing material according to any one of claims 1 to 4.