Cellulose aero cryo and xerogels: towards understanding of morphology control
Highly porous, lightweight versatile cellulose materials were prepared via dissolution coagulation and subsequent various drying routes. Cellulose was dissolved in ionic liquid/DMSO mixture and coagulation was performed in ethanol. The as prepared wet precursors were used to make materials with three different drying methods: supercritical CO2 drying, freeze drying and vacuum drying. The influence of cellulose concentration and drying method on the density, porosity, specific surface area and morphology of cellulose materials is presented and discussed. We provide the understanding of morphology development as a function of processing conditions and give the "recipes" for porosity control.
Cellulose