Recycling Hemp Hurd Biowaste Into a High-performance Cellulose Aerogel for Oil Adsorption and Water-in-oil Emulsion Filtration
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Elsevier BV
Abstract
A superhydrophobic aerogel derived from hemp hurd, a low-value byproduct of fibre production, is developed for oil-water mixture separation. The fabrication process involves homogenisation, ultrasonication, freeze-drying, and chemical functionalisation using methyltriethoxysilane, yielding a lightweight, porous structure with exceptional hydrophobicity and oleophilicity. Characterisation using scanning electron microscopy confirms a hierarchical micro-nanostructure, while contact angle measurements show a superhydrophobic behaviour (water contact angles > 150°). The aerogel exhibits exceptional oil absorption performance, with uptake capacities ranging from 56 to 125 g/g for different oils and organic solvents. It also exhibits excellent mechanical compressibility and reusability, maintaining performance over 50 % of the adsorption capacity after ten adsorption-regeneration cycles. Furthermore, the aerogel also demonstrated excellent performance as a filtration medium for water-in-oil emulsion separations, achieving high flux (665–728 l m⁻² h⁻¹) and high separation efficiency (97.8–99.1 %). These findings highlight the potential of these hemp hurd-derived aerogels as scalable and environmentally sustainable materials for oil adsorption and water-in-oil emulsion separation.Description
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Industrial Crops and Products, ISSN: 0926-6690 (Print), Elsevier BV, 237, 122065-122065. doi: 10.1016/j.indcrop.2025.122065
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© 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Note: This article is available under the Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND license and permits non-commercial use of the work as published, without adaptation or alteration provided the work is fully attributed.