Improving thermal properties and flame characteristics of aerogel from nanocellulose and graphene oxide by sodium bicarbonate

Abstract

In this study, an environmentally friendly aerogel derived from nanocellulose fibers (CNF) combined with graphene oxide (GO), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) was synthesized with the aim of improving the thermal properties and flame characteristics of aerogels made from nanocellulose and graphene oxide. Aerogel obtained by freeze-drying technique has a low density (0.2236 g/cm3), a high porosity of 85.92%, a specific surface area when adsorbing and desorbing nitrogen gas is approximately 44.6 m2/g and 67.05 m2/g, respectively. Additionally, the resulting aerogel was structurally analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The research shows that the presence of NaHCO3, a green and low-cost flame retardant additive, has significantly improved the thermal stability and flammability of the nanocellulose-based aerogels. In addition, the presence of this flame retardant additive has almost no effect on the MB adsorption and removal ability of the resulting aerogel, with the removal efficiency remaining stable at over 95% after 5 reuse cycles. The results show that the CNF/GO/PVA/NaHCO3 aerogel is a lightweight material with low density and a large surface area, making it favorable for adsorption applications in environmental treatment. Additionally, the CNF/GO/PVA/NaHCO3 aerogel has significantly improved in thermal stability, which opens up new possibilities for the thermal recycling of this adsorbent.