Multifunctional carbon aerogels from typha orientalis for applications in adsorption: Hydrogen storage, CO2 capture and VOCs removal

Biomass-derived cellulose carbon aerogels with a 3D network structure were synthesized from Typha Orientalis (TO). The TO cellulose carbon aerogels feature light mass (3.65 mg/cm3), super-hydrophobicity, and large specific surface areas (1840 cm2/g). Because of the outstanding microporous volume and the abundant func-tional groups, the TO carbon aerogels can be used as multifunctional adsorbent materials in different applica-tions. The results demonstrate that the material has 0.6 wt% hydrogen storage capacity at room temperature, 16 mmol/g CO2, 123.31 mg/g o-xylene and 124.57 mg/g o-dichlorobenzene adsorption capacity. The o-xylene adsorption capabilities of the sample were reduced by just 12% after four thermal regeneration cycles, demonstrating the realistically good reusability of TO cellulose carbon aerogels and is expected to be applied to dioxin removal. The current research can offer a green approach to fabricating ultra-light TO cellulose carbon aerogels with promising applications in energy storage and environmental protection. In addition, the prepa-ration can be applied for the fabrication of other multifunctional aerogels by solid waste for different applications.