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Nanostructurally Controllable Strong Wood Aerogel toward Efficient Thermal Insulation

Garemark, Jonas ; Perea-Buceta, Jesus E. ; Rico Del Cerro, Daniel ; Hall, Stephen LU ; Berke, Barbara ; Kilpeläinen, Ilkka ; Berglund, Lars A. and Li, Yuanyuan (2022) In ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces 14(21). p.24697-24707
Abstract

Eco-friendly materials with superior thermal insulation and mechanical properties are desirable for improved energy- and space-efficiency in buildings. Cellulose aerogels with structural anisotropy could fulfill these requirements, but complex processing and high energy demand are challenges for scaling up. Here we propose a scalable, nonadditive, top-down fabrication of strong anisotropic aerogels directly from wood with excellent, near isotropic thermal insulation functions. The aerogel was obtained through cell wall dissolution and controlled precipitation in lumen, using an ionic liquid (IL) mixture comprising DMSO and a guanidinium phosphorus-based IL [MTBD][MMP]. The wood aerogel shows a unique structure with lumen filled with... (More)

Eco-friendly materials with superior thermal insulation and mechanical properties are desirable for improved energy- and space-efficiency in buildings. Cellulose aerogels with structural anisotropy could fulfill these requirements, but complex processing and high energy demand are challenges for scaling up. Here we propose a scalable, nonadditive, top-down fabrication of strong anisotropic aerogels directly from wood with excellent, near isotropic thermal insulation functions. The aerogel was obtained through cell wall dissolution and controlled precipitation in lumen, using an ionic liquid (IL) mixture comprising DMSO and a guanidinium phosphorus-based IL [MTBD][MMP]. The wood aerogel shows a unique structure with lumen filled with nanofibrils network. In situ formation of a cellulosic nanofibril network in the lumen results in specific surface areas up to 280 m2/g and high yield strengths >1.2 MPa. The highly mesoporous structure (average pore diameter ∼20 nm) of freeze-dried wood aerogels leads to low thermal conductivities in both the radial (0.037 W/mK) and axial (0.057 W/mK) directions, showing great potential as scalable thermal insulators. This synthesis route is energy efficient with high nanostructural controllability. The unique nanostructure and rare combination of strength and thermal properties set the material apart from comparable bottom-up aerogels. This nonadditive synthesis approach is believed to contribute significantly toward large-scale design and structure control of biobased aerogels.

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author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
aerogel, ionic liquid, sustainable materials, thermal insulation, wood
in
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
volume
14
issue
21
pages
11 pages
publisher
The American Chemical Society (ACS)
external identifiers
  • scopus:85130021718
  • pmid:35511115
ISSN
1944-8244
DOI
10.1021/acsami.2c04584
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2022 American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.
id
375f7c82-9dfc-494a-baf8-ea6e117bcfca
date added to LUP
2022-08-19 12:38:23
date last changed
2024-04-18 05:54:57
@article{375f7c82-9dfc-494a-baf8-ea6e117bcfca,
  abstract     = {{<p>Eco-friendly materials with superior thermal insulation and mechanical properties are desirable for improved energy- and space-efficiency in buildings. Cellulose aerogels with structural anisotropy could fulfill these requirements, but complex processing and high energy demand are challenges for scaling up. Here we propose a scalable, nonadditive, top-down fabrication of strong anisotropic aerogels directly from wood with excellent, near isotropic thermal insulation functions. The aerogel was obtained through cell wall dissolution and controlled precipitation in lumen, using an ionic liquid (IL) mixture comprising DMSO and a guanidinium phosphorus-based IL [MTBD][MMP]. The wood aerogel shows a unique structure with lumen filled with nanofibrils network. In situ formation of a cellulosic nanofibril network in the lumen results in specific surface areas up to 280 m<sup>2</sup>/g and high yield strengths &gt;1.2 MPa. The highly mesoporous structure (average pore diameter ∼20 nm) of freeze-dried wood aerogels leads to low thermal conductivities in both the radial (0.037 W/mK) and axial (0.057 W/mK) directions, showing great potential as scalable thermal insulators. This synthesis route is energy efficient with high nanostructural controllability. The unique nanostructure and rare combination of strength and thermal properties set the material apart from comparable bottom-up aerogels. This nonadditive synthesis approach is believed to contribute significantly toward large-scale design and structure control of biobased aerogels.</p>}},
  author       = {{Garemark, Jonas and Perea-Buceta, Jesus E. and Rico Del Cerro, Daniel and Hall, Stephen and Berke, Barbara and Kilpeläinen, Ilkka and Berglund, Lars A. and Li, Yuanyuan}},
  issn         = {{1944-8244}},
  keywords     = {{aerogel; ionic liquid; sustainable materials; thermal insulation; wood}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  number       = {{21}},
  pages        = {{24697--24707}},
  publisher    = {{The American Chemical Society (ACS)}},
  series       = {{ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces}},
  title        = {{Nanostructurally Controllable Strong Wood Aerogel toward Efficient Thermal Insulation}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.2c04584}},
  doi          = {{10.1021/acsami.2c04584}},
  volume       = {{14}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}