Preparation and adsorptive performance study of amino modified-crosslinked composite aerogel for VOCs in wooden furniture

Abstract There is a lack of standards for harmful VOC substances in furniture products in China, and furniture’s peculiar smell is still a hot concern for society. Amino modified-crosslinked composite aerogel was prepared using a modified sol-gel method by incorporating chitosan and inorganic silica as the inorganic phase, and it was added to polyurethane coating (PU paint) and wooden substrate. Results indicated that the prepared amino modified-crosslinked composite aerogel had a pore size of 12 μm to 16 μm, retaining the lightweight structure and mesoporous characteristics of the gel while containing the active organic groups of chitosan. It exhibited a certain adsorption capacity for VOCs in both PU paint and wooden substrate, with the highest adsorption efficiency observed in fir, reaching 72.86%. These results demonstrate the feasibility of this method and suggest a new approach to pollution prevention and control in wooden furniture. It holds promising potential for scalable applications.