A comparative study on modification of aerogel-based biosorbents from coconut fibers for treatment of dye- and oil-contaminated water. (November 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Nguyen, P.X.T.; Ho, K.H.; Do, N.H.N.; Nguyen, C.T.X.; Nguyen, H.M.; Tran, K.A.; Le, K.A.; Le, P.K.
• Is Part Of: Materials today sustainability. Volume 19(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-11
• Subjects: Bio-aerogels -- Coconut waste -- Fabrication -- Adsorption -- Wastewater treatment; Materials science -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Sustainable engineering -- Periodicals; 620.11
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mtsust.2022.100175
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2589-2347

Abstract

Abstract: In this study, the discarded coconut fibers are treated with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2 ) to recover the purified cellulose for further being transformed into the cellulose-based aerogels without consuming and releasing any toxic chemicals. This work also provides a comparison between two methods of synthesizing the cellulose aerogels via using physical cross-linkers polyvinyl alcohol/xanthan gum (PVA/XTG), the alkali-urea method and carbonization in terms of characteristics, dye removal, oil adsorption as well as simplicity and feasibility of the synthesis determined by the material balance of cellulose recovery and aerogel fabrication. Overall, the fabricated aerogels maintain a high porosity of 96.30–98.32%, low density of 0.034–0.063 g/cm 3, and outstanding adsorption capacity for methylene blue (MB) and oil. It is worth noting that the carbon aerogels exhibit an impressive maximum MB adsorption capacity of 625 mg/g which is three times higher than that of the uncarbonized aerogels. Without modification, the carbon aerogels show the highest oil sorption capacity of 22.71 g/g among the investigated subjects. The results demonstrate that our aerogels are all promising candidates for the treatment of contaminated wastewater.