A facile method for in situ fabrication of silica/cellulose aerogels and their application in CO2 capture

Yingju Miao; Manoj Pudukudy; Yunfei Zhi; Yingchun Miao; Shaoyun Shan; Qingming Jia; Yonghao Ni

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.116079

A facile method for in situ fabrication of silica/cellulose aerogels and their application in CO₂ capture

Carbohydr Polym. 2020 May 15:236:116079. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.116079. Epub 2020 Feb 27.

Authors

Yingju Miao¹, Manoj Pudukudy², Yunfei Zhi³, Yingchun Miao⁴, Shaoyun Shan⁵, Qingming Jia⁶, Yonghao Ni⁷

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China; School of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Liupanshui Normal University, Liupanshui 553004, China. Electronic address: egomyj@163.com.
² Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China. Electronic address: manojpudukudy@gmail.com.
³ Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China. Electronic address: zyf891123@163.com.
⁴ College of Chemistry and Environmental Science, Qujing Normal University, 655000 Qujing, China. Electronic address: miaoyingchun1979@126.com.
⁵ Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China. Electronic address: shansy411@163.com.
⁶ Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China.
⁷ Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China; Limerick Pulp and Paper Centre, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton E3B 5A3, Canada. Electronic address: yonghao@unb.ca.

PMID: 32172892
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.116079

Abstract

Old corrugated containers-based cellulose and fly ash-based fresh wet silica gel were used as raw materials for in situ synthesis of a series of silica/cellulose aerogels in NaOH/urea solution. At a silicon to cellulose ratio of less than 2.5:1, the skeleton structure of the synthesized composite material was dominated by fibrils decorated with spherical silica nanoparticles. At a silicon to cellulose ratio of higher than 2.5:1, the skeleton structure of the composite material was dominated by spherical silica particles interspersed with cellulose. The synthesized composite material was applied to capture CO₂ at ambient temperature and pressure. We observed that with increasing silicon content, the CO₂ adsorption capacity of the composite material decreased (regardless of its dominant structure), while its selectivity for CO₂/N₂ increased. This work presents a facile method for the synthesis of adsorption material that has high capacity and selectivity for CO₂.

Keywords: CO(2)uptake; Dominant skeleton structure; Selectivity; Silica/cellulose aerogels.