Characteristics of Aerogels Manufacturing Using Wastepaper

Abstract

In order to evaluate the possibility of producing aerogels using waste paper, white ledger and KOCC (Korea old corrugated container) were fibrillated to produce aerogels and their characteristics were compared with those of hardwood bleached kraft pulp. Grinding was performed at 5, 10, 15 and 20 times, and the concentration of fibrillated fiber was adjusted to 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5% in order to investigate the effect of fibrillation degree and the fibrillated fiber concentration. As the grinding progressed, the average fiber length decreased. In the case of white ledger, the increase of low shear viscosity was delayed. In the case of KOCC, little change was observed, which is closely related to the fibrillation characteristics of the fiber. The degree of polymerization of hardwood bleached kraft pulp and white ledger decreased as the number of grinding times increased. However, KOCC showed no significant change. As the grinding number and fibrillated fiber concentration increased, the specific surface area of the aerogels increased, but the average pore size decreased. These properties were closely related to the fibrillation characteristics of the fibers. As the pore size of the aerogels decreased, the absorption of water and oil decreased. The absorption of water by hydrophobic treatment of aerogels was significantly decreased, but the absorption of oil was improved for white ledger and KOCC.