Superelastic Polymer Aerogel with Superamphiphilicity

Elastic aerogels have become a research hot spot in both academia and industry recently. The reported elastic aerogels are all made of hard materials by controlling their shapes. Herein we report an elastic aerogel made of a polymer elastomer with entropy elasticity. In the aerogel, cross-linked carboxyl nitrile rubber nanoparticles with hydrophilicity are dispersed in hydrophobic derivative of styrene–maleic anhydride alternating copolymer, forming a very special micro–nano surface structure with hydrophilic protrusions and hydrophobic depressions on the aerogel wall; therefore, the aerogel is not only superelastic but also superamphiphilic. A leak-free phase-change composite was prepared using the aerogel and paraffin, which can maintain at phase change temperature of paraffin for a longer time than the traditional one. The aerogel is also extremely suitable for desalination evaporators in solar-driven interfacial evaporation technology due to its superamphiphilicity, superelasticity, and ability to absorb sunlight. Exceptional evaporation rate of 2.78 kg·m –2 ·h –1 and evaporation efficiency of 170% could be reached even without using expensive light-absorbing materials. The evaporation rate exceeds that of most evaporators with expensive light-absorbing materials, and the evaporation efficiency exceeds the theoretical limit of conventional 2D solar evaporators. Both the phase-change composite and the evaporator can be easily recovered because the novel superelastic aerogel reported in this work is also recyclable.