Hydrophobic and flexible cellulose aerogel as an efficient, green and reusable oil sorbent

Adsorbent materials as well as hydrophobic modification methods have been at the forefront of research creating environmentally hazardous waste. Herein, we report a facile, green preparation method for cellulose aerogels. Cold plasma technology was employed for hydrophobic modification of the aerogel surface using trimethyl-chlorosilane (TMCS) as the plasma. Notably, the modification procedure was considerably more rapid (less than 3 min), more efficient and economically viable than traditional methods. The highly flexible modified cellulose aerogels are hydrophobic (ca. 150°), oleophilic and ultralight (as low as 0.0196 g cm−3). Compared to conventional oil adsorbent materials, these low-cost, environment-friendly cellulose aerogels exhibit excellent adsorption properties (peanut oil, 34.5 g g−1) as well as remarkable reusability (more than 15 times). Therefore, the preset work would play a significant role in further advancing the fields of adsorbent materials and hydrophobic modification methods.