HKUST-1 modified ultrastability cellulose/chitosan composite aerogel for highly efficient removal of methylene blue

Abstract

A novel composite HKUST-1/cellulose/chitosan aerogel (HKUST-1/CCSA) as an efficient adsorbent with hierarchical pores was prepared through a facile in situ growth way combining covalent cross-linking, vacuum freeze-drying, and solvothermal methods. By incorporating with cellulose (CE), covalently cross-linked cellulose (CE)/chitosan (CS) composite aerogel exhibits good stability, maintaining fine morphology and structures in acidic solutions under solvothermal conditions. Meantime, a high content of CS is beneficial to enhancing the growth of HKUST-1. Finally, the mass loading ratio of HKUST-1 is as high as 42.54 % in HKUST-1/CCSA. The BET specific surface area of HKUST-1/CCSA reaches 457.75 m2 g−1, which is much larger than that of CCSA (9.74 m2 g−1). HKUST-1/CCSA was applied to remove methylene blue with high adsorption capacity (526.3 mg g−1) and good recycling capability. This strategy can provide an effective and facile pathway to prepare ultra-stable polysaccharide-based composite aerogel with high specific surface area and hierarchical pores, branching out more applications in pollutant treatment fields.