Preparation, Characterization and Oil Adsorption Properties of Cellulose Aerogels from Four Kinds of Plant Materials via a NaOH/PEG Aqueous Solution

In this paper, cellulose aerogels based on four kinds of plant materials including wheat straw, bamboo fiber, filter paper and cotton were prepared by alternative chemical pretreatment, dissolution in a green NaOH/PEG solution, freeze-thaw treatment, regeneration and freeze drying, respectively, and were subsequently characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), nitrogen adsorption measurements, X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The differences in morphology, pore feature, crystalline structure and thermal property for the four kinds of aerogels were investigated. Meanwhile, the oil adsorption capacities differences of the aerogels were also studied after the aerogels were subjected to hydrophobic modifications by methyltrichlorosilane (MTCS); besides, the effect of the hydrophobic modifications was explored by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).