Recycling Hemp Hurd Biowaste Into a High-performance Cellulose Aerogel for Oil Adsorption and Water-in-oil Emulsion Filtration
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Authors
Zhai, Y
Yuan, X
Jena, KD
Supervisor
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Journal Article
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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
Keywords
40 Engineering, 4016 Materials Engineering, 0703 Crop and Pasture Production, Biotechnology, 3004 Crop and pasture production, 3006 Food sciences, 4004 Chemical engineering, Cellulose, Hydrophobic, Aerogel, Hemp hurd, Oil-Water separation
Source
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.