Facile fabrication of corn stover-based aerogel for oil/water separation

Owing to the excellent adsorption capacity and high selectivity, aerogel have attracted considerable attention recently as promising sorbent materials for oil–water separation. Although many preparation methods for aerogel have been reported, green, facile, and low-cost fabrication is still a challenge. Herein, we reported the preparation of superhydrophobic and superoleophilic aerogel for oil and organic solvents collection from water. The crushed corn stover was treated with sodium hydroxide and hypochlorous acid to obtain the biomass cellulose fibers. The aerogels were produced using polyvinyl alcohol binder, followed by a freeze-drying method. It showed high porosity (98.26–99.01%) and low density (15.15–24.95 mg/cm 3 ). After modified with hexadecyltrimethoxysilane by chemical vapor deposition, the aerogel exhibited superior superhydrophobicity and showed excellent adsorption capacity (75 g/g). The adsorbed oil and organic solvents can be recovered by extrusion or centrifugation, and the aerogel showed stable performance and excellent reusability. Besides, the aerogel can separate various water-in-oil emulsions with separation efficiencies up to 99.94% and flux as high as 5529 L•m −2 •h −1 . Taken together, the results illustrate that the aerogel hold promise for the fields of oil recovery and environmental protection.