The Influence of SiO2 on Properties of Cellulose Aerogel

Abstract

Cellulose hydrogel was prepared from cellulose/NaOH aqueous solutions. Silica was added into cellulose hydrogel by TEOS hydrolysis method. Finally aerogel was obtained by the freeze-drying technique. The influence of silica on the properties of cellulose aerogel was studied in detail. With cellulose content 3%, the water absorption of cellulose-SiO2composite aerogel was only about 50% of the water absorption of cellulose aerogel. The result showed that silica could effectively reduce the water absorption of cellulose aerogel significantly and reduce the extent of structural damage that resulted from highly water absorption of cellulose aerogel. At the same time, with the increase of cellulose content, density of cellulose aerogel increased, while porosity decreased. It led to the water absorption of aerogel decrease with the increasing of cellulose content.