Cellulose aerogels are lightweight materials with specific surface area around 200 – 300 m2/g; they can be used as delivery matrices, for absorption and adsorption and in electro-chemical applications when pyrolysed. In most cases cellulose aerogels are made from “pure” cellulose (microcrystalline cellulose or cotton) and coagulation is performed in water which is then replaced by acetone or ethanol in order to perform drying with supercritical CO2. The goal of this work was to answer two questions: what is the influence on aerogels’ properties, of 1) non-cellulosic components in dissolving pulps (hemicellulose, lignin) and 2) the first coagulation bath? Pulps with various amounts of lignin and hemicellulose were dissolved in 8%NaOH-water or 8%NaoH-0.8%ZnO-water, coagulated in different non-solvents (1 M HCl, distilled water, ethanol) and dried under supercritical conditions. The composition of aerogels, organic (lignin, sugars) and inorganic (Na, Zn) components, was determined and correlated with the solubility of each component in cellulose non-solvents. Aerogels’ density, specific surface area and morphology were studied. We demonstrated that the type of non-solvent has a significant influence on aerogels’ properties in terms of the presence of non-dissolved metals and cellulose crystallinity. Hemicellulose leads to a slight decrease of aerogels’ specific surface area.

Aerogels from pulps: Influence of pulp composition and non-solvent type on aerogels’ properties

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.