Preparation of cellulose aerogels from ionic liquid solutions for supercritical impregnation of phytol

•Cellulose aerogels prepared from different (ILs) impregnated with phytol.•Effect of dissolution and coagulation conditions on textural properties.•Coagulated hydro and alcogels dried by supercritical CO2.•High drug loading (approx. 50% w/w) capacity in cellulose aerogels obtained.•Highest capacity of phytol than non-cellulosic aerogels.

The use of natural polysaccharides is especially attractive to the pharmaceutical industry because of their stability, availability, renewability and low toxicity. In this study, cellulose aerogels obtained from cellulose/ionic liquid solutions were prepared by supercritical drying with surface areas ranged from 154 to 434 m2 g−1, pore volume from 0.3 to 2.4 cm3 g−1 and pore diameter from 7.9 to 34 nm. Drug loading capacity was investigated by impregnating phytol as model compound into the aerogels, using supercritical CO2 at 100 bar, 40 °C and mass ratio of phytol per gram of aerogel 10:1. The quantity of drug present is consistent in each aerogel. The aerogel prepared from 2 wt% cellulose in [Emim][DEP] solution showed the highest loading capacity. The high amount of drug loaded (approx 50% w/w) in the cellulose aerogels prepared from ionic liquid solutions shows their potential uses in the pharmaceutical or medical industry.

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