Pickering emulsion templated strategy in composite aerogels with hierarchical porous structure improves thermal insulation and diphenylamine adsorption

A facile Pickering emulsion templated approach is used to achieve nanocelluloses (NCs)/poly(aryl ether ketone) (PAEK) composite aerogels with low density and hierarchical porous structure. In this article, we evaluate the factors including water-oil volume ratio, PAEK loading and NCs species to unravel the impact of fiber morphology on the formation and properties of the Pickering emulsions and aerogels. The results show both cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) and microfibrous cellulose (MFC) display excellent performance in stabilizing Pickering emulsions. Besides, the NCs/PAEK composite aerogels reveal a nanonet constructed porous network with excellent properties of thermal insulation. The lowest thermal conductivity of 17.8 mW center dot m(-1)center dot K-1 is obtained for the CNF/PAEK composite aerogel. To our knowledge, this is one of the most efficient thermal insulators in the reported NCs-based aerogels. Additionally, the NCs/PAEK composite aerogels demonstrate an efficiency of 98.1% in diphenylamine adsorption of water. These findings reveal a potential application of NCs/PAEK composite aerogels in adsorbent and thermal insulators in chemical industries and the construction sector.

Automated summary

This article presents a facile approach to fabricate nanocellulose/poly(aryl ether ketone) composite aerogels with low density and hierarchical porous structure using Pickering emulsion templated method. The impact of water-oil volume ratio, PAEK loading, and nanocellulose species on the formation and properties of Pickering emulsions and aerogels is evaluated. The results demonstrate that both cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) and microfibrous cellulose (MFC) exhibit excellent performance in stabilizing Pickering emulsions. The fabricated NCs/PAEK composite aerogels exhibit a nanonet constructed porous network and possess remarkable thermal insulation and water adsorption properties, indicating their potential applications in chemical industries and the construction sector.