A Petrochemical‐Free Route to Superelastic Hierarchical Cellulose Aerogel

• Published in: Angewandte Chemie International Edition Vol. 62; no. 5; pp. e202214809 - n/a
• Main Authors: Qin, Bing, Yu, Zhi‐Long, Huang, Jin, Meng, Yu‐Feng, Chen, Rui, Chen, Zhi, Yu, Shu‐Hong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 26.01.2023
• Edition: International ed. in English
• Subjects: Aerogels; Air purification; Cellulose; Cellulose Aerogels; Cellulosic resins; Dehydration; Etching; Fatigue strength; Hierarchical Structure; Hydrogen bonds; Petrochemical-Free Synthesis; Petrochemicals; Plastic deformation; Plasticity; Porous walls; Rigidity; Service life; Superelasticity; Thermal etching; Hierarchical Structure; Superelasticity; Cellulose Aerogels; Petrochemical-Free Synthesis
• ISSN: 1433-7851; 1521-3773
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.202214809

Cellulose aerogels are plagued by intermolecular hydrogen bond‐induced structural plasticity, otherwise rely on chemicals modification to extend service life. Here, we demonstrate a petrochemical‐free strategy to fabricate superelastic cellulose aerogels by designing hierarchical structures at multi scales. Oriented channels consolidate the whole architecture. Porous walls of dehydrated cellulose derived from thermal etching not only exhibit decreased rigidity and stickiness, but also guide the microscopic deformation and mitigate localized large strain, preventing structural collapse. The aerogels show exceptional stability, including temperature‐invariant elasticity, fatigue resistance (∼5 % plastic deformation after 105 cycles), high angular recovery speed (1475.4° s−1), outperforming most cellulose‐based aerogels. This benign strategy retains the biosafety of biomass and provides an alternative filter material for health‐related applications, such as face masks and air purification. A new type of cellulose aerogels with anisotropic and hierarchical porous architecture are developed via a petrochemical‐free method. The aerogels display temperature‐invariant elasticity (∼5 % plastic deformation after 105 compressive cycles at 50 % strain), large‐strain recoverability (folding and twisting), angular recovery speed high up to 1475.4° s−1, and exceptional fatigue resistance.