Aerogels derived from lignin and cellulose fibre for oil/water separation

In the pursuit of economical developments, the increase in industrialization and urbanization of cities have led to an increase in oil usage and pollution. There is massive concerns regarding oil pollution due to the harmful impact it has on our environment. Current measures to combat oil pollution includes the use of non-environmentally friendly methods such as burning or using biological treatments which are costly. Conventional measures such as the usage of boomers face the problem of having a low absorption capacity of oil. To overcome these limitations, a facile fabrication of lignin and cellulose nanofibrous aerogel (NFA) was developed in this study. The NFAs were prepared by unidirectionally freezing a mixture of cellulose fiber slurry and lignin nanoparticles. The ice crystals were sublimed from the frozen aerogels during the freeze-drying process, followed by annealing at 250°C. The annealed NFAs exhibited improved compressive resistance and displayed high extent of hydrophobicity, with a large water contact angle of 149.1°. These findings show that ligninnanoparticle-coated cellulose NFA demonstrates the potential as a reusable sorbent material for applications in oil/water separation.Bachelor of Engineering (Materials Engineering