Synthesis of carbon fiber aerogel from natural bamboo fiber and its application as a green high-efficiency and recyclable adsorbent

•A green economic pyrolysis technique was used to produce carbon fiber aerogel.•Carbon fiber aerogel is superhydrophobic and has excellent adsorption selectivity.•Carbon fiber aerogel adsorbed various organic liquids at 23–51 times its own weight.•Carbon fiber aerogel can be easily recycled by burning, squeezing or extracting.

We report an eco-friendly and inexpensive pyrolysis route to produce lightweight and superhydrophobic carbon fiber aerogel (CFA) by using cheap natural bamboo fiber as raw material. When used as an adsorbent, CFA can effectively and rapidly adsorb organic liquid from wastewater and didn't allow any water adsorption. CFA can adsorb an extensive range of organic liquids. The adsorption efficiency can reach up to 23–51 times the weight of original CFA. In addition, CFA shows excellent recyclability, and remained high adsorption efficiency even after five cycles through burning, squeezing, or extracting. In view of the lightweight feature, good adsorption selectivity, substantial adsorption efficiency, excellent adsorption recyclability, and easily-operated cost-effective preparation technique, consequently, we believe that such natural bamboo fiber-derived CFA holds potential for environmental remediation. More importantly, this work provides a good example to expand high-value applications of low-cost biomass resources.

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