A novel cellulose/lignin/montmorillonite ternary hybrid aerogel for efficiently adsorptive removal of antibiotics from water

•A ternary hybrid aerogel was simply obtained to remove various antibiotics.•The mechanical properties of this aerogel are enhanced due to the improved textural structure.•This aerogel has a notably selective adsorption capacity towards ciprofloxacin (CIP).•This aerogel efficiently remove CIP at the concentration as low as 0.002 mmol/L.•Various interactions are involved in adsorption by this aerogel at varied pH levels. A novel fully environmental-friendly organic–inorganic ternary hybrid aerogel (LN/MMT@cellulose), composed of lignin (LN), montmorillonite (MMT), and cellulose, was designed and simply fabricated. LN/MMT@cellulose was employed for the adsorptive removal of typical antibiotic ciprofloxacin (CIP) in water. The combined MMT and LN reinforce the mechanical properties of the cellulose aerogel and notably enhance the selective adsorption capacity toward CIP in the presence of various inorganic and organic matters. LN/MMT@cellulose still presents good adsorption ability toward CIP even at the CIP concentration as low as 0.002 mmol/L in various actual water sources. With the combination of the adsorption kinetics, isotherms, and thermodynamic study as well as the various spectroscopic characterizations before and after adsorption, the mechanisms of LN/MMT@cellulose in CIP adsorption were investigated in detail. Various interactions were involved in CIP adsorption by this composite aerogel under different pH levels, causing the evident pH dependence of its adsorption capacity, specifically, the cation exchange and electrostatic attractions associated with the chelation, π-π electron donor–acceptor interaction, and the ordinary hydrogen bondings were dominant at pH