Multifunctional amphibious superhydrophilic-oleophobic cellulose nanofiber aerogels for oil and water purification

Aerogels are of a popular choice for oil-water separation and water purification due to their attractive properties, such as lightweight, large surface area, and high porosity. Developing robust aerogels with multifunctional characteristics is highly desirable but remains challenging nowadays. Herein, we develop a facile one-pot condensation strategy for the fabrication of superhydrophilic-oleophobic (SHI-OP) composite aerogels using cellulose nanofibers (CNF), 3-glycidy-loxypropyl trimethoxysilane (GPTMS), polyethyleneimine (PEI) and fluorine-contained compound (FS-60). The resulted aerogels exhibit a directional lamellar structure with interconnected macropores, super-lightweight with high porosity of 98.30 % and low density of 0.0256 g·cm−3. Also, the aerogels are mechanically durable against repeated compression. Meanwhile, the amphibious SHI-OP feature of the composite aerogels in both air and water states enables them to not only absorb trace amount of water from contaminated oils, but also separate oil-water mixtures with separation efficiency of over 99 % and high permeation flux of over 9060 L/m2·h. Moreover, the aerogels also show excellent dye adsorption capability and reusability toward anionic dyes with a maximum adsorption capacity of 1245.68 mg/g. Such robust and multifunctional aerogels with special surface wettability provide good opportunity for liquid purification and dye-containing wastewater treatment.