US Provisional Application No.

61/818,970
RECYCLED CELLULOSE AEROGELS FROM PAPER WASTE
AND THEIR APPLICATIONS
ABSTRACT: GREEN cellulose aerogels from paper waste were successfully synthesized cost-effectively by
using alkaline/urea and freeze drying/supercritical drying processes. The cellulose aerogel structures could be
optimized by various recipes for high absorbance applications of polar liquids (water) and non-polar liquids
(spilled oil), and excellent eco-friendly heat insulators (very low thermal conductivity and water repellent for
tropical climate usage). The hydrophobic property of the cellulose aerogels were significantly improved by
coating the whole porous structure with a few nanometers of MTMS through chemical vapor deposition. The
developed recipes and methods can be scaled for the mass production with various sizes and shapes.

Fabrication of recycled cellulose aerogels from paper waste

Excellent properties of recycle cellulose aerogels: Macroporous structure,
very light weight (0.04 g/cm3), good mechanical properties, flexibility, high
absorbance ability, self-cleaning and very low thermal conductivity.
+ NaOH/Urea

23 cm

Sonication
6mins

(b)

Freeze @ -12 oC for

24 hrs and then thaw
at room temperature

Cellulose
aerogel
Soak in DI water for 24 hrs, then
freezy drying @112oC for 24 hrs

Immerse in
industrial
Ethanol

High absorbance applications for

non- polar liquids (crude oil)
t=0
min

t=1
min

Heat insulation applications

1. Very low thermal conductivity of
cellulose aerogels 0.029 W/m.K
2. Thermal stability is approx. 300oC

t=3
min

Aerogel
sample

Thermal measurement
system
Oil absorption test (ASTM F726-06 ) with crude oil
Crude oil absorption capacity

Heat lost
from houses

v
Water

Water + Crude oil Water + Crude oil + MTMS

coated Aerogel

3. Water repellent of the recycled cellulose aerogels

are BETTER than commercial water repellents
99.4 % of oil removed
after 4 min

Oil absorption test with crude oil/water mixture

Effect of temperature

Coated with commercial water

repellent by mechanical spraying

Coated with MTMS through

chemical vapour deposition

Absorbance capacity for crude oil: 19-24X of the

aerogel dry weight. Mainly affected by oil viscosity

High absorbance applications for

polar liquids (water)
(e)

Reusability Test

120o

140o

(a) Initial water

absorbed sample

140o
Uncoated sample

(b) Squeezing out

99.5% of water

Eco-friendly and
biodegradable
diapers

Water absorbance
test based on
ASTM D570-98

Life performance of recycled cellulose aerogels

Chemical vaporation method gives much better coating
and higher hydrophobic property.

(c) Squeezed
sample after
reabsorbing water

Absorbance capacity: approx. 20X of the own

dry weight, 99.5% of absorbed water is removed
after squeezing, highly-reusuable ability

A research project supported by the Environment

Technology Research Program (ETRP)
PI: Duong Hai Minh and Co-PI: Vincent BC Tan.
Email: mpedhm@nus.edu.sg