Cotton aerogels and cotton-cellulose aerogels from environmental waste for oil spillage cleanup

Publication date: 15 September 2017
Source:Materials & Design, Volume 130
Author(s): Hanlin Cheng, Bowen Gu, Mark P. Pennefather, Thanh X. Nguyen, Nhan Phan-Thien, Hai M. Duong
For the first time, successful fabrication of the cotton aerogels and cotton-cellulose aerogels is achieved using recycled fibers from environmental waste for oil absorption. The pure cotton and cotton-cellulose aerogels are obtained using a cost-effective mixing-blending method with polyamide-epichlorohydrin as strengthening additives. The obtained aerogels are silanized using methyltrimethoxysilane via a facile chemical vapor deposition to endow aerogels with hydrophobic surface. Effects of fiber concentrations and cotton-to-cellulose mass ratio on oil absorption performance in various solvents are also investigated. The cotton aerogel with an initial concentration of 0.25wt% presents the highest oil absorption capacity over 100gg⁻¹. Besides, the cotton/cellulose aerogels also demonstrate good absorption capacity in different pollutant organics. The absorption kinetics of the aerogels with different cotton concentrations are also investigated using pseudo first-order model. Both equilibrium absorption and absorption kinetics demonstrate cotton/cellulose aerogels as promising materials for oil absorption and environmental pollution treatment.

Graphical abstract

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