Recycling Coal Fly Ash for Super-Thermal-Insulating Aerogel Fiber Preparation with Simultaneous Al₂O₃ Extraction.

ABSTRACT: A large quantity of coal fly ash is generated worldwide from thermal power plants, causing a serious environmental threat owing to disposal and storage problems. In this work, for the first time, coal fly ash is converted into advanced and novel aerogel fibers and high-purity α-Al₂O₃. Silica-bacterial cellulose composite aerogel fibers (CAFs) were synthesized using an in situ sol-gel process under ambient pressure drying. Due to the unique "nanoscale interpenetrating network" (IPN) structure, the CAFs showed wonderful mechanical properties with an optimum tensile strength of 5.0 MPa at an ultimate elongation of 5.8%. Furthermore, CAFs with a high porosity (91.8%) and high specific surface area (588.75 m²/g) can inherit advanced features, including excellent

SUBMITTER: Gu J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10746117 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature