title: Versatile fabrication of a superhydrophobic and ultralight cellulose-based aerogel for oil spillage clean-up.
abstract: To deal with marine oil spillage and chemical leakage issues, a highly efficient absorbent (cellulose based aerogel) with a low density (ρ < 0.034 g cm-3, φ > 98.5%) and high mechanical strength was fabricated via a novel physical-chemical foaming method, plasma treatment and subsequent silane modification process. This aerogel has a perfect 3D skeleton and interconnected pores similar to honeycomb, which are favorable to oil adsorption and storage. More importantly, without introducing additional micro/nanoparticles, the rough micro/nano structure of the surface was directly constructed using plasma irradiation in this study. The low surface energy substrate was further introduced using a simple physical-soaking method and the resulting aerogel exhibited excellent superhydrophobicity (WCA > 156°) and superoleophilicity (OCA = 0°), which can selectively and efficiently absorb various oils or organic solvents from polluted water. In addition, this aerogel has a high storage capacity and absorption capacity (up to 4300% and 99% of its weight and volume, respectively). More interestingly, this aerogel exhibits excellent mechanical abrasion resistance and corrosion resistance even in strong acid, alkali solution and salt marine environment. The aerogel could be reused more than 30 times after removal of the absorbed oil by rinsing with ethanol.
authors.affiliation: College of Materials Engineering, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, People's Republic of China. fafuclh@163.com.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: College of Materials Engineering, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, People's Republic of China. fafuclh@163.com.
authors.forename: Yuqi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: College of Materials Engineering, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, People's Republic of China. fafuclh@163.com.
authors.forename: Yaoguang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: College of Materials Engineering, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, People's Republic of China. fafuclh@163.com.
authors.forename: Zexiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: College of Materials Engineering, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, People's Republic of China. fafuclh@163.com.
authors.forename: Lihui
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: College of Materials Engineering, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, People's Republic of China. fafuclh@163.com.
authors.forename: Liulian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: College of Materials Engineering, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, People's Republic of China. fafuclh@163.com and Nanocellulose and Biocomposites Research Centre, College of Engineering, Design and Physical Sciences, Brunel University, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 3PH, UK. mizi.fan@brunel.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Mizi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fan