Ultralight Poly(vinyl alcohol)/Cattail Fiber Cellulose Aerogels as Green and Recyclable Organic Liquid Captors

Oil–water separation has attracted widespread attention from researchers because of increasing worldwide water pollution. Therefore, it is urgent to design an environmentally friendly material with a high efficiency oil–water separation property. Herein, a facile strategy for fabricating ultralight, biodegradable, and high porosity methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) modified poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/cellulose aerogels (PCAs) by chemical vapor deposition is reported. The obtained results show that the oil–water separation ability of PCA is enhanced with the increase of the PVA load. Besides, the hydrophobicity of the modified PCA is improved relative to that of pristine PCA. In particular, the water contact angle of MTMS-P0.4CA was 140.3°. Furthermore, PCA modified MTMS exhibits an excellent repeated adsorption capacity for organic liquids. The as-prepared aerogels with outstanding hydrophobicity and oil–water separation ability show great potential as recyclable organic liquid captors.