Hierarchical pores in degradable polymer-based aerogel for CO $$_2$$ adsorption

Gas adsorption materials, such as active carbon and zeolite, are known to cause second pollution after being used, due to their non-degradability. In this study, we prepared a degradable aerogel material based on cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) with hierarchical pores and excellent CO \(_2\) -adsorption performance. The micropores, with specific area of 442 m \(^2\cdot\) g \(^{-1}\) , are obtained via in-situ growing MIL-100(Fe) on CNCs and concurrently assembling those CNC particles. The resulting aggregate is further introduced into degradable PVA aerogels, who offer mesopores and macropores. The resulting degradable material has a density of 0.216 g \(\cdot\) cm \(^{-3}\) and can adsorb 0.357 mmol CO \(_2\) per gram. This makes it a promising candidate for use in the preparation of light weight CO \(_2\) collectors.