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Chitosan–silica composite aerogels: preparation, characterization and Congo red adsorption

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Abstract

A series of aerogels composed of chitosan and/or silica were fabricated by tuning their feeding ratios. They were characterized by FTIR, thermogravimetric analysis, and X-ray diffraction; pore structures were analyzed by Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) nitrogen sorption and scanning electron microscopy (SEM); adsorption capacities to Congo red were explored as well. The incorporation of silica enhances the thermostabilization of chitosan in gels. And as silica content increases, bulk densities of aerogels decrease gradually, while porosities, pore volumes, and surface areas obtained via BET method increase consequently; as well, porous structure becomes more regular and pore size tends to be smaller that was observed by SEM. The adsorption capacities of chitosan-containing aerogels to Congo red reach as high as about 150 mg/g, much higher than that of pure silica (17 mg/g), demonstrating their potential as a class of novel adsorbent materials.

Graphical Abstract

A series of chitosan- and/or silica-based aerogels were fabricated, which were named as C5S0, C4S1, C1S1, C1S4, and C0S5, with different designed CS/SiO2 mass ratios of 100/0, 80/20, 50/50, 20/80, and 0/100, respectively. Their compositions and structures as well as adsorption properties to Congo red were analyzed and compared in detail.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the anonymous reviewers and the editor for their constructive comments. This work was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (21004005), and the Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars, State Education Ministry (20120932003).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beijing Engineering Research Center of Cellulose and Its Derivatives, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China

    Jianquan Wang, Qiushi Zhou, Danqiao Song, Bin Qi, Yizhen Shao & Ziqiang Shao

  2. Aerospace Research Institute of Materials and Processing Technology, China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, Beijing, 100074, China

    Yanjiang Zhang

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  1. Jianquan Wang
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Correspondence to Jianquan Wang.

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Wang, J., Zhou, Q., Song, D. et al. Chitosan–silica composite aerogels: preparation, characterization and Congo red adsorption. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 76, 501–509 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-015-3800-7

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