Pore formation mechanism and size regulation study of atmospheric dried cellulose nanofiber aerogel templated by emulsions

Jing Yang; Xiao Chen; Siyu Tantai; Yangqi Lv; Le Zhao; Shaohai Fu; Chunxia Tang

doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.140214

Pore formation mechanism and size regulation study of atmospheric dried cellulose nanofiber aerogel templated by emulsions

Int J Biol Macromol. 2025 Jan 21:140214. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.140214. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Jing Yang¹, Xiao Chen², Siyu Tantai³, Yangqi Lv², Le Zhao⁴, Shaohai Fu², Chunxia Tang⁵

Affiliations

¹ College of Textile Science & Engineering, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, China. Electronic address: 6223014002@stu.jiangnan.edu.cn.
² College of Textile Science & Engineering, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, China.
³ College of Textile Science & Engineering, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, China. Electronic address: 1092220113@stu.jiangnan.edu.cn.
⁴ College of Textile Science & Engineering, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, China. Electronic address: 6223018037@stu.jiangnan.edu.cn.
⁵ College of Textile Science & Engineering, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, China. Electronic address: chunxia.tang@jiangnan.edu.cn.

PMID: 39848365
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.140214

Abstract

Atmospheric pressure drying (APD) method holds great promise in the large-scale production of aerogels without specialized equipment and critical conditions. However, atmospheric-dried cellulose- based aerogels are challenged by the collapse of the pore walls induced by the capillary force that arises during solvent evaporation. This study prepared an atmospheric dried cellulose nanofiber (CNF) aerogel with a low shrinkage rate (17.31 %), low density (26.5 mg/cm³), high porosity (97.53 %), excellent mechanical compressive strength (9197 Pa at 50 % strain), and adjustable pore size by embedding oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion templates in an ionically crosslinked CNF network. The effect of the emulsion template, network crosslinking density, and the solvent displacement process on the aerogel formability was studied to elucidate the pore formation mechanism. Additionally, the effect of emulsion droplet size on the aerogel pore size was studied. This work is of great significance in understanding the construction mechanism of atmospheric dried aerogels.

Keywords: Atmospheric drying; Cellulose-based aerogel; Emulsion.