Super absorbent, light, and highly flame retardant cellulose-based aerogel crosslinked with citric acid

Light (0.089-0.12 g cm(-3)), superabsorbent (84-99 g water/1 g aerogel), and highly flame retardant non-crosslinked cellulose aerogel (CA) and crosslinked cellulose aerogel (CL-CA) have been successfully produced from pruning waste of blueberry tree. The prepared aerogels with three dimensional porous structure have a remarkably thermal stability and flame retardant performance, which totally burned after 136-200 s. Besides, CA and CL-CA have an important Brunauer-Emmet-Teller surface area, which are 348 and 275 m(2) g(-1), respectively. The concepts of this study are simple and bio-wastes are easily available and sustainable at low cost, and therefore, the current process is appropriate for industrial scale production and has a significant potential in the future of green materials. (C) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.