Abstract
Oil spills and oily wastewater have become a major environmental problem in recent years, directly impacting the environment and biodiversity. Several techniques have been developed to solve this problem, including biological degradation, chemicals, controlled burning, physical absorption and membrane separation. Recently, biopolymeric aerogels have been proposed as a green solution for this problem, and they possess superior selective oil absorption capacity compared with other approaches. Several modification strategies have been applied to nanocellulose-based aerogel to enhance its poor hydrophobicity, increase its oil absorption capacity, improve its selectivity of oils and make it a compressible and elastic magnetically responsive aerogel, which will ease its recovery after use. This review presents an introduction to nanocellulose-based aerogel and its fabrication approaches. Different applications of nanocellulose aerogel in environmental, medical and industrial fields are presented. Different strategies for the modification of nanocellulose-based aerogel are critically discussed in this review, presenting the most recent works in terms of enhancing the aerogel performance in oil absorption in addition to the potential of these materials in near future.
Highlights
IntroductionWater pollution from various organic pollutants including frequent oil spills and other synthetic chemical leaks has recently caused significant environmental issues, which become worse every year due to the accumulation of such pollutants in the environment [1]
Water pollution from various organic pollutants including frequent oil spills and other synthetic chemical leaks has recently caused significant environmental issues, which become worse every year due to the accumulation of such pollutants in the environment [1].Conventional approaches that depend on synthetic and petroleum-based polymers, which are nonbiodegradable materials, could introduce another source of environmental pollution [2]
Many approaches have been developed for oily water treatment and oil/water separation, including biological degradation by using specific microorganisms to degrade pollutants dissolved in effluents [6]
Summary
Water pollution from various organic pollutants including frequent oil spills and other synthetic chemical leaks has recently caused significant environmental issues, which become worse every year due to the accumulation of such pollutants in the environment [1]. Conventional approaches that depend on synthetic and petroleum-based polymers, which are nonbiodegradable materials, could introduce another source of environmental pollution [2] These concerns have encouraged scientists and catalyzed research into green alternatives with improved property profiles. Domestic oil and grease mainly come from total organic matter [5] In this context, many approaches have been developed for oily water treatment and oil/water separation, including biological degradation by using specific microorganisms to degrade pollutants dissolved in effluents [6]. This review presents an overall introduction to nanocellulose-based aerogels, their fabrication and their different applications and covers in detail the most recent techniques for the modification of nanocellulose-based aerogels to suit oil absorption applications It presents the most recent works in this field and discusses the potential and prospective uses of such materials in the near future
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