Cabin air filtration technologies for vehicle interiors

Air quality inside vehicle cabins is gaining attention as vehicle electrification and urban traffic conditions increase exposure to particulates and pollutants. In this context, UFI highlighted its ARGENTIUM^®, HEPA and conventional cabin air filter technologies designed to improve air filtration performance across multiple vehicle categories.

Cabin air filtration as part of vehicle environmental control
While often secondary to powertrain filtration, cabin air filters play a direct role in managing passenger exposure to airborne contaminants. These filters are designed to remove particulates such as dust, pollen and tyre wear debris as well as biological contaminants including bacteria, mould and allergens.

UFI’s filtration development activities combine original equipment (OE) supply experience with in-house research conducted at its UFI Innovation Centres. This work has resulted in six proprietary filter media technologies grouped under the FormulaUFI platform, enabling internal production of different filtration materials.

Multi-layer filtration media for particle and microbial control
One example is the ARGENTIUM^® cabin filter, which uses FormulaUFI.Stratiflex technology based on a three-layer structure consisting of antimicrobial, adsorptive and structural filtration layers.

The filter media incorporates Biomaster silver biocide technology, where embedded silver particles inhibit bacterial growth by up to 99%. This layered structure is designed to capture particulates such as pollen, road dust and brake wear particles while also limiting fungal growth and reducing exposure to gases including sulphur dioxide (SO₂) and nitrogen oxides (NOx).

Activated carbon integrated into the filter structure enables filtration efficiencies above 98.5% for particles with diameters of 2.5 microns while also supporting odour and gas adsorption. The antimicrobial performance is specified to remain effective for a service interval of up to twelve months.

HEPA filtration requirements in electric mobility
The transition toward electric vehicles is also influencing cabin filtration requirements, particularly due to the increased focus on passenger comfort and environmental control systems.

UFI has expanded its High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) cabin filters, originally developed for battery electric vehicles as OE components and later introduced into the aftermarket for applications including the Tesla Model Y.

These HEPA filters use filtration media comparable to those applied in healthcare environments and are specified to remove 99.975% of particles as small as 0.3 microns. This allows the capture of fine particulate matter as well as airborne biological contaminants such as spores, bacteria and viruses.

Portfolio expansion across vehicle segments
UFI has expanded its cabin filtration portfolio with an additional 36 product references, including 16 new pollen filters for off-road vehicle applications. The broader product range includes 161 ARGENTIUM^® filters, HEPA filters and conventional filtration solutions.

The company also supplies approximately 400 anti-pollen filters using non-woven materials capable of retaining more than 90% of airborne particles larger than 2.5 microns. A further 210 activated carbon filters combine particle filtration with gas adsorption, targeting particles between 0.01 and 2 microns while also reducing odours.

Coverage of European vehicle parc
UFI’s cabin air filter portfolio includes a catalogue of 772 part numbers covering multiple vehicle segments, including 637 references for passenger cars and vans, 80 for heavy commercial vehicles and buses and 55 for off-road vehicles.

This product coverage is intended to address filtration requirements for approximately 95% of the European vehicle fleet, reflecting the growing importance of environmental control systems in automotive engineering and mobility platforms.

Edited by industrial journalist Aishwarya Mambet, with AI-assistance.

www.ufifilters.com