Preparation of iron-based metal-organic framework @cellulose aerogel by in situ growth method and its application to dye adsorption

Two metal-organic framework materials (NH2-MIL-101 and NH2-MIL-88(b))were loaded on cellulose aerogel (CA) by in situ growing method and the resulting composite aerogels were used for dye adsorption. The characterization of resulting composite aerogels by SEM、XRD and FTIR confirmed that the two MOF materials grown in situ on cellulose aerogels still remained their pristine structure and crystal form. Both NH2-MIL-101@CA and NH2-MIL-88(b)@CA demonstrated excellent adsorption capacity for Congo red dye. The maximum adsorption capacity of NH2-MIL-101@CA and NH2-MIL-88(b)@CA were 223.4 ​mg ​g−1 and 280.3 ​mg ​g−1, respectively. The adsorption kinetics and isotherm suggests that the adsorption process follows the pseudo-second-order model and the Langmuir isotherm model. The recovered aerogels showed comparable adsorption performance with fresh prepared aerogels even after five cycles. [Display omitted] •Two MOF materials maintain their crystal form on the composite aerogel by in situ growth method.•Two MOF@CA materials showed excellent adsorption capacity.•The adsorption of CR by the two MOF@CA materials was accomplished by the interaction between amino and sulfonic acid groups.