Nonwoven filtration media including microfibrillated cellulose fibers

1. A nonwoven filtration medium comprising:

a fibrous base media comprising synthetic and/or natural fibers; and

microfibrillated cellulose fibers disposed on a surface of the base media, wherein the microfibrillated cellulose fibers are not distributed throughout the base media, and wherein a majority of the microfibrillated cellulose fibers have a lateral dimension of up to 4 microns.

2. The nonwoven filtration medium claim 1 wherein the microfibrillated cellulose fibers have a lateral dimension of 700 nm to 4 microns.

3. The nonwoven filtration medium of claim 1 wherein the microfibrillated cellulose fibers are used in an amount effective to increase the strength and/or filtration efficiency of the base media compared to the base media without the microfibrillated cellulose fibers.

4. The nonwoven filtration medium of claim 1 wherein the microfibrillated cellulose fibers are present in an amount of 1 wt-% to 49 wt-% based on the total weight of the nonwoven filtration medium.

5. The nonwoven filtration medium of claim 1 wherein the base media comprises cellulose fibers.

6. The nonwoven filtration medium of claim 1 wherein the base media comprises synthetic fibers.

7. The nonwoven filtration medium of claim 1 wherein the base media comprises fiberglass.

8. The nonwoven filtration medium of claim 7 wherein the base media comprises fiberglass and synthetic fibers other than fiberglass.

9. The nonwoven filtration medium of claim 1 which possesses enhanced strength relative to that of the base media.

10. The nonwoven filtration medium of claim 1 which possesses an average filtration efficiency that is at least 5% greater than that of the base media, according to the LEFS Test.

11. The nonwoven filtration medium of claim 1 suitable for air or liquid filtration.

12. A filter element comprising a nonwoven filtration medium of claim 1 .

13. A nonwoven filtration medium comprising:

a base media comprising synthetic and/or natural fibers; and

microfibrillated cellulose fibers disposed on a surface of the base media, wherein the microfibrillated cellulose fibers are not distributed throughout the base media, and wherein a majority of the microfibrillated cellulose fibers have a lateral dimension of 700 nm to 4 microns;

wherein the microfibrillated cellulose fibers are present in an amount sufficient to provide a nonwoven filtration medium having an average filtration efficiency that is at least 10% greater than that of the base media.

14. A nonwoven filtration medium comprising:

a base media comprising fiberglass fibers; and

microfibrillated cellulose fibers disposed on a surface of the base media, wherein the microfibrillated cellulose fibers are not distributed throughout the base media, and wherein a majority of the microfibrillated cellulose fibers have a lateral dimension range of 700 nm to 4 microns.