In recent years, the treatment of textile waste has attracted more and more attention around the world. The reuse of textile waste can contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions and the sustainable development of the economy. Herein, we proposed a facile and cost-effective approach to fabricating aerogel by using textile waste fibers as the matrix and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and glutaraldehyde (GA) as crosslinking agents. After being modified with methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) via chemical vapor deposition, both the interior and exterior of the textile waste aerogels exhibit a hydrophobic property with a water contact angle of up to 136.9° ± 2.3°. A comprehensive investigation of the structure, thermal properties, mechanical properties and oil absorption capacity of this aerogel shows its potential for building insulation and oil spill cleanup. The textile waste fibers aerogels have low density and high porosity, good thermal stability and outstanding heat insulation properties (Kavg. = 0.049-0.061 W/m·K). With a maximum oil absorption value of 26.9 ± 0.6 g/g and rapid and effective oil/water mixture separation, the aerogel exhibits competitive commercial application value.
Keywords: aerogels; oil spill cleaning; recycled textile waste; textile waste fibers.