Synergistic effect of natural rubber for imparting hydrophobicity in nanocellulose aerogel through one-pot synthesis and its application in oil/organic solvent sorption

The demand for hydrophobic materials has attracted wide attention towards cleaning the catastrophic oil spill. Herein, we reported the cost-effective and eco-friendly approach for developing a hydrophobic aerogel using nanocellulose and natural rubber latex (NRL). A straightforward mixing procedure was adopted to alter the surface wettability of nanocellulose by directly mixing it with NRL. The obtained sample is lightweight (28 kg/ m3) and has a self-assembled porous (98 %) structure with a water contact angle (WCA) up to 120.5 degrees +/- 1.05. The porous structure absorbs various liquids with a sorption capacity of 30-67 g/g and is reused for at least 10 cycles with an 85 % efficiency. The developed material effectively separates the oil from the surface of the water, as estimated from the continuous sorption study. The cost analysis was also investigated to assess the commercial viability of the developed material for the oil spill cleaning application. Hence, the developed eco-friendly material has the potential to remove the organic pollutants (oil) effectively from the marine environment.