Xiaoxue Yao, Zhenwen Zhang, Wei Deng, Chuhan Feng, Qili Xu, Wenzhu Lin, Zehua Peng, Yang Cao, Guo Wang, Bee Luan Khoo, Steven Wang
Emerging conductive porous materials hold remarkable promise for Joule-heating applications like electothermal filtration, smart textiles, and energy management due to their porous and conductive synergy. However, their development is constrained by a design trade-off between achieving high porosity for efficient flow transmission and maintaining a conductive network for effective charge transport. To overcome this, a bridged conductive nanofibrous membrane (BCNM) by linking polypyrrole-coated nanofibers via self-assembled polypyrrole nanowires is developed. This dual-state network establishes continuous electron pathways while preserving multiscale porous channels, orchestrating air permeation, particulate capture, and electrothermal sterilization for all-in-one air purification. Leveraging this synergy, BCNM captures 98.79% of >0.3 µm particles under an ultra-low pressure drop of 76 Pa and instantaneously self-heats to 100 °C at low power to sterilize 99.49% of airborne bacteria. These performances compare favorably with leading conductive porous materials in both filtration performance and energy economy. A proof-of-concept solar-powered purifier incorporating the BCNM outperforms existing purification technologies in terms of filtration, sterilization, energy efficiency, and cost. This work offers an innovative material-structure-function paradigm for developing energy-interactive porous materials, with broad potential in smart filtration, biomedical protection, and sustainable energy systems.