The green design of corncob cellulose/reduced graphene oxide-derived hierarchical porous aerogels for efficient dye adsorption

Abstract

As it is a material obtained from natural resources, the functionalization and applications of cellulose have attracted interest recently. In this work, we reported a facile method for preparing bio-inspired functionalized corncob cellulose/rGO (CL/rGO) aerogels through freeze-drying technology. Measurements of the adsorption performance toward MB showed us that cellulose/rGO aerogels had good adsorption performance at pH = 7 and room temperature. In addition, we carried out adsorption–desorption cycling experiments to evaluate the stability and recyclability of CL/rGO aerogels. The good adsorption abilities endow the CL/rGO aerogels with great potential applications, e.g., they can be utilized for dye wastewater treatment.