Lignocellulosic aerogels, including or excluding lignin, were fabricated directly from ground Douglas fir wood without prior removal of hemicellulose and lignin using lithium bromide (LiBr) molten salt hydrate (lithium bromide trihydrate – LBTH) as a cellulose solvent via a procedure of cellulose dissolution, gelation, and regeneration. The fabricated aerogels had homogeneous and continuous porous structure, extremely high porosity, large surface area and very low density. The lignin-excluding aerogel had a density as low as 4.6 mg/cm3 and a porosity larger than 99%, while the lignin-including whole biomass aerogel retained almost all lignin and more than 90% of the starting biomass and had 24.9 mg/cm3 density and 98.3% porosity. Mechanistic study revealed that different from those in other cellulose solvent systems, cellulose gelation and regeneration in the LBTH system occurred in two independent steps. The weak crosslinking through coordination effect between cellulose hydroxyl group and Li+ cation led to the gelation of cellulose solution in the LBTH, while the exchange of the solvent LBTH with non-solvent water during washing resulted in the cellulose regeneration via precipitation/aggregation to form a 3D fibrous network of cellulose.

Aerogels directly from whole biomass: Fabrication and mechanistic study

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

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