The development of plastic materials has played a crucial role in improving quality of life and fostering the growth of several industrial sectors in modern society. However, the increasing global production of plastic materials and their inadequate disposal after use have led to severe environmental challenges. Among widely used plastics, polystyrene (PS) stands out as a significant concern due to its high consumption and low recycling rates. Therefore, the development of efficient recycling strategies that generate high value-added products is desirable. In this context, electrospinning has emerged as a promising route for the fabrication of polymer nanofibers from plastic waste, enabling controlled morphology through a relatively simple process and allowing the production of advanced air filtration media

In this context, this work aims to develop air filter media using recycled polystyrene (rPS) via electrospinning. A 3D printed polylactic acid (PLA) honeycomb support was employed to enhance the mechanical resistance of the filtering structure. The polymeric solution consisted of 20 wt.% rPS dissolved in a 7:3 mixture of N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) and DL-limonene. Electrospinning was carried out under an applied voltage of 25 kV, a tip-to-collector distance of 10 cm, a solution flow rate of 0.8 mL·h⁻¹, and a collector rotation speed of 200 rpm. Different electrospinning times (0–120 min) were investigated to evaluate their influence on nanoparticle collection efficiency and pressure drop at an air velocity of 5.3 cm·s⁻¹. The results were compared with those of a commercial H13 HEPA filter (JP Air Tech, model JX185-B-PTFE).

The rPS nanofibers exhibited average diameters of approximately...