Biomass poplar catkin fiber-based superhydrophobic aerogel with tubular-lamellar interweaved neurons-like structure

Superhydrophobic aerogels are attractive candidates in controlling oil spills. The major challenges for existing aerogels are the construction of mechanical endurance as well as accessible of building materials. Herein, a newfangled biomass superhydrophobic aerogel (M-PCF/CS) with both superior compressibility and oil caption speed is fabricated by assembling poplar catkin fiber (PCF) hollowed-out shell of 330 nm and chitosan (CS) into tubular-lamellar interweaved neurons-like structure. The resultant aerogels (porosity ~ 96.12%), with flexuous PCF as the elastic buffer and second-pore capillaries, exhibit large longitudinal and transverse compressibility, endurable fatigue tolerance, fast oil sorption rate with a capacity of 28.8–78.1 g/g at 5–25 s. In parallel, the aerogels are tolerant of NaCl, UV radiation, and organic solvents without superhydrophobic variation and a case of oil spill remediation via pump-supported experiment shows that the aerogels facilely achieve continuous oil recycling from seawater by 23052–43956 L·m–2·h–1. Furthermore, the resultant M-PCF/CS, with assistance of an oscillator, can be applied to separate oil/water emulsions with efficiency of 98.07–99.11%. The successful fabrication of this material provides a new design strategy for the construction of mechanically robust aerogels for speedy and economical cleanup of oil pollutants from water.