Facile Template Synthesis of Microfibrillated Cellulose/Polypyrrole/Silver Nanoparticles Hybrid Aerogels with Electrical Conductive and Pressure Responsive Properties

Sustainable microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) aerogels are considered to be good templates for the growth of functional organic or inorganic nanoparticles. In this work, MFC aerogels with high porosity (99.9%) and low density (2.91 mg/cm(3)) were produced by freeze-drying. Then the obtained MFC aerogels were used as templates for the synthesis of MFC/polypyrrole (PPy)/silver nanoparticles (Ag) hybrid aerogels by a simple dip-coating method. Our results demonstrated that the obtained hybrid aerogels maintained the attractive features of the pristine MFC aerogels, such as high porosity, low density, and high compressive stress, during the preparation process. Compared with MFC aerogels and MFC/PPy hybrid aerogels, the MFC/PPy/Ag hybrid aerogels exhibited enhanced antimicrobial and electrical conductive properties due to the combination of PPy and Ag. Moreover, the electrical conductivity and compressible properties of the MFC/PPy/Ag hybrid aerogels led to their pressure responsive property. These features make the hybrid aerogels promising candidates for wound healing, energy storage, and pressure sensing applications.