The necklace-like fiber membranes are fabricated using electrospinning technique for high-efficiency PM (particulate matter) capture. Poly-N, N'-[(4,5-dihydroxy-1,2 phenylene) bis(methylene)] bisacrylamide (POHABA) nanospheres as "pearls" are embedded in poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) matrix substrates to make necklace-like fibers. The reason for choosing POHABA nanospheres is due to their broad-spectrum inhibitory effect on bacteria. The diameters of three POHABA nanospheres are controlled to be 190 +/- 50, 364 +/- 39 and 467 +/- 65 nm, respectively. The necklace-like structures become more pronounced with the increase of POHABA diameter. The PM2.5 removal efficiencies of PEO necklace-like fiber membranes obtained with electrospinning time of half an hour are in the range from 88.0 to 92.5%. Under the same fabrication conditions, the PEO/POHABA-467 fiber membrane displays better capture efficiency than that of PVP/POHABA-467 fiber membrane. Using thicker PEO/POHABA-467 filter membrane (electrospinning for one hour), excellent removal efficiency of PM2.5 (99.2%) is achieved, which is better than that obtained from other membranes and even commercial QMA filter (Whatman). The necklace-like fiber membranes have a great potential in the fields of aero filter and mask. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.