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Recycling of Pineapple Leaf and Cotton Waste Fibers into Heat-insulating and Flexible Cellulose Aerogel Composites

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Abstract

Pineapple leaf and cotton waste fibers known as abundant by-products in the agriculture and textile industry are combined for the first time to produce thermal insulating and flexible cellulose-based aerogel composites via an environmentally friendly and cost-effective freeze-drying process. The effect of total fiber content and the ratio of pineapple leaf fibers (PF) to cotton waste fibers (CF) on the density, porosity, morphology, durability, and thermal properties of aerogel composites are comprehensively investigated. The as-fabricated aerogel composites show an exceedingly low density of 0.019–0.046 g cm−3 with high porosity of more than 96%. Because of the porous structure inside, our aerogel composites exhibit outstanding heat insulation with extraordinarily low thermal conductivity of 0.039–0.043 W m−1 K−1 that is comparable to commercial insulation materials (mineral wool, fiberglass, polystyrene) and previous cellulose-based aerogels from recycled cellulose fibers, sugarcane bagasse, and rice straw. Interestingly, the combination of those fibers has remarkably improved the flexibility of our previous aerogels from pineapple leaf fibers only, in particular, the compressive modulus of aerogel composites (11.33–44.63 kPa) is 6 times higher than that of PF aerogels (5.73 kPa). The sheet of aerogel composite with a dimension of 28 × 28 cm which is rolled up shows no crack on its surface, demonstrating its excellent mechanical strength. The research results increase the possibility of applying the developed aerogel composites from biomass into practical insulation.

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Acknowledgements

This study is funded by the Science and Technology Program for sustainable development of the Mekong Delta under grant number KHCN-TNB.ĐT/14-19/C35. We acknowledge the support of time and facilities from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HCMUT), VNU-HCM for this study. The authors also deeply acknowledge the lab staffs in Materials Group, Department of Mechanical Engineering, NUS, for their significant help on characterizations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HCMUT), 268 Ly Thuong Kiet Street, District 10, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

    Nga H. N. Do, Viet T. Tran, Quang B. M. Tran & Phung K. Le

  2. Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, Linh Trung Ward, Thu Duc District, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

    Nga H. N. Do, Viet T. Tran, Quang B. M. Tran & Phung K. Le

  3. Institute for Tropicalization and Environment, 57A Truong Quoc Dung Street, Phu Nhuan District, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

    Kien A. Le

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Quoc B. Thai, Phuc T. T. Nguyen & Hai M. Duong

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  1. Nga H. N. Do
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  2. Viet T. Tran
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  3. Quang B. M. Tran
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Correspondence to Phung K. Le.

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Do, N.H.N., Tran, V.T., Tran, Q.B.M. et al. Recycling of Pineapple Leaf and Cotton Waste Fibers into Heat-insulating and Flexible Cellulose Aerogel Composites. J Polym Environ 29, 1112–1121 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-020-01955-w

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