Preparation of a renewable biomass carbon aerogel reinforced with sisal for oil spillage clean-up: Inspired by green leaves to green Tofu

In the south of China, green Tofu, comprised of a large amount of green and pollution-free cellulose, is one of most characteristic traditional foods in the local diet. Inspired by the preparation of the traditional green Tofu, we report a general protocol to fabricate biomass carbon aerogel based on extraction of cellulose from the plant leaves, freeze-drying and carbonization of cellulose. In this strategy, the plant leaves-derived celluloses were extracted from premna microphylla (PM) leaves and sisal leaves via alkalization and bleaching processes. Then, the superhydrophobic hierarchical porous carbon-X aerogel (SHPC-X aerogel) with ultralow density and excellent elastic properties were observed by carbonizing the freeze-dried celluloses. The incorporation of plant cellulose into aerogel could not only improve the specific surface areas and morphologies, but also enhance hydrophobic properties and mechanical properties of materials. When the sisal cellulose content of 200% (sisal: PM cellulose mass ratio), the SHPC-200 aerogel exhibited robust superhydrophobicity (WCA =158 degrees) and large specific surface areas (475.68 m(2) g(-1)). In addition, the as-prepared SHPC-200 aerogel exhibited high absorption capacity (77.7-147.3 g g(-1)) for different oils and organic solvents and excellent oil recoverability, high durability, and regenerability during oil/water separation for 10 cycles. This study provides an effective strategy for fabrication of biomass carbon aerogel by using PM leaves as raw material that can be extended for the fabrication of other biomass aerogels for application in chemical separation, environmental remediation and energy storage. (C) 2018 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.