Interception and <i>in Situ</i> Eradication of Airborne Pathogens by Ecofriendly, Biodegradable Wooden Filters

The need for fresh and clean air has never been more apparent, especially in light of frequent outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases. However, conventional air filtering materials made from petrochemical plastics are nonrenewable, nonbiodegradable, and generally lack antipathogenic activities, posing the risk of secondary transmission. Herein, we report a simple yet highly effective helical stagger strategy to fabricate high-performance air filters, with a filtration efficiency of 92.23% for the most challenging particulate matter (PM) of PM0.3, from naturally abundant wood resources. Functionalization with the aggregation-induced emission photosensitizer (AIE-PS) further endows the wooden filter with remarkable self-sterilization capabilities. The resulting AIE-PS functionalized helically staggered wooden filter (AIE/HSWS) demonstrates efficient interception and in situ eradication of tiny airborne pathogens (more than 99%), with excellent biodegradability, and a minimal environmental footprint. The cost-effective, scalable, and sustainable AIE/HSWS offers a promising solution to combat global health crises and air pollution challenges.