Preparation of Whole Biomass Aerogels from Douglas Fir Using Molten Salt Hydrate As Solvent

Aerogel is a material with porous network structure, low density, high specific surface area, and low thermal conductivity. Aerogel has been used for thermal insulator, supercapacitor, storing medium, filter material for extremely fine particles, drug delivery systems, and drug coating. In the present study, whole biomass aerogels with high porosity, large surface area and low-density open pore 3D structure were prepared from Douglas fir without hemicellulose removal and delignification process. Lithium bromide molten hydrate was used to dissolve – regenerate the cellulose or biomass to form cellulosic network structure. The results indicated that the density of the aerogels prepared from Douglas fir whole biomass ranged from 4.6 to 29 mg/cm³ with porosity from 99.7% to 98.1%. The aerogel properties changes with biomass pretreatment, different reaction conditions, and biomass loading were investigated.