Fabrication of hydrophobic, electrically conductive and flame-resistant carbon aerogels by pyrolysis of regenerated cellulose aerogels

• Carbon aerogels were prepared by pyrolysis of regenerated cellulose aerogels.
• The carbon aerogels maintained three-dimensional network structure and belonged to mesoporous materials.
• The carbon aerogels were composed of highly disordered amorphous graphite nanocrystalline.
• The miscellaneous carbon aerogels had strong hydrophobicity, electrical conductivity and flame retardance.

In this paper, we reported miscellaneous carbon aerogels prepared by pyrolysis of regenerated cellulose aerogels that were fabricated by dissolution in a mild NaOH/PEG solution, freeze–thaw treatment, regeneration, and freeze drying. The as-prepared carbon aerogels were subsequently characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), nitrogen adsorption measurements, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and water contact angle (WCA) tests. The results showed that the carbon aerogels with pore diameters of 1–60 nm maintained interconnected three-dimensional (3D) network after the pyrolysis, and showed type-IV adsorption isotherm. The pyrolysis process leaded to the decomposition of oxygen-containing functional groups, the destruction of cellulose crystalline structure, and the formation of highly disordered amorphous graphite. Moreover, the carbon aerogels also had strong hydrophobicity, electrical conductivity and flame retardance, which held great potential in the fields of waterproof, electronic devices and fireproofing.