Ultra-stable, lightweight and superelastic waste flax-based aerogel for multifunctional applications

Multifunctional aerogels constructed from natural waste biomass have attracted great attention in the fields of green energy harvesting, flexible wearable sensing and natural environment restoration. However, the complex and polluted extraction of natural materials and the poor mechanical property have seriously hindered the development of natural material-based aerogels . Hence, a novel aerogel with capabilities of high-elasticity, stabilized constructions and weightlessness was prepared via waste flax staple fibers (simply physically disrupting) and multi-walled carbon tubes. Due to the assistance of cross-linking agent and carbon tubes, the aerogel was endowed with multiple properties including high photothermal conversion (97.2 %), superstability at the wide range of 0–29 KPa and outstanding compression resilience at different strains (up to 60 % and 100 cycles). Consequently, it is promising that the fabricated aerogel may be as a piezoresistive sensor to monitor different locations of the body for continuous detection of motor behavior. Further, the sample was also utilized as an evaporator with excellent water evaporation effect (1.93 kg·m −2 ·h −1 ) under 1 sun and to efficiently purify various types of wastewater for obtaining pure water. This multi-purpose aerogels prepared in this work display admirable potential for efficient environmental purification, advanced smart materials and green energy harvesting.