Ultralight, hydrophobic, anisotropic bamboo-derived cellulose nanofibrils aerogels with excellent shape recovery via freeze-casting

Abstract Cellulose aerogels have shown outstanding potential as renewable functional materials; however, their practical applications are still limited by inherent hydrophilicity and weak mechanical properties. To overcome hydrophilicity and fragility issues of aerogels, in this study, silylated bamboo-derived cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) aerogels with aligned porous structures were achieved by directionally freeze-casting a mixture of CNF suspension and methyltrimethoxysilane sol. The silylated CNF aerogels exhibited distinct aligned lamellar structures and significantly anisotropic mechanical properties. They had improved strength and stiffness in the axial direction (along the freezing direction) and excellent rapid shape recovery ability in the radial direction (perpendicular to the freezing direction) with a significant high shape recovery ratio of 92% after 100 cycles at 80% compression. Owing to their ultra-low density, hydrophobicity, and high compressive recoverability, the silylated CNF aerogels can be potentially used in a wide range of industrial applications, such as hydrophobic polymer nanocomposites, absorbents, and biomedical scaffolds.