Upcycling the lotus receptacle for the synthesis of carbon aerogel for adsorption and electrochemical properties

Nowadays, environmental pollution due to centralized industrialization has occurred rapidly around the world; thus, efficient remediation is in dire requirement. In this literature, the carbon aerogel material was fabricated using the lotus receptacle (LCA) via a hydrothermal treatment and N 2 -atmosphere pyrolysis. Characterization was conducted using various solid phase analyses to confirm the successful upcycling of carbon aerogel from the mentioned waste by-product. The synthesized material was consequently applied for the adsorption of diesel oil and methylene blue, yielding up to 80 and 99% removal efficiency for the two contaminants, respectively, wherein several factors such as the absorbent dose and dye concentration as well as the adsorption kinetic were also assessed. Besides, the electrochemical properties were additionally assessed to consummate the application of the material in the electrochemical field, which reveals the promising applicability of the fabricated LCA not only as an efficient adsorbent for wastewater treatment but also as a good capacitor with great sustainability even after 500 consecutive charging–discharging cycles. Graphical abstract