Large-Scale Nanofiber Manufacturing| Beam-column structure inspired cellulose.nanofiber-based composite aerogel forefficient solar desalination and wastewaterpurification

Chemical Engineering Journal (IF 13.3): Cellulose Nanofiber-Based Composite Aerogels for Efficient Solar Desalination and Wastewater Purification

Challenge: Cellulose-based biomass aerogels with high porosity, low density, and abundant porous networks have attracted attention as solar-driven clean water supply materials. However, developing efficient and stable cellulose nanofiber aerogel evaporators remains challenging due to weak light absorption and poor mechanical properties.

Approach: Professor Yan Jianhua (Donghua University) collaborated with Associate Professor Zhang Yuanyuan and Professor Jiang Wei (Qingdao University) to prepare a cellulose nanofiber-based composite aerogel (CPCM) with a beam-column structure via directional freezing. The aerogel combines a cellulose nanofiber (CNF) skeleton, amine-functionalized carbon nanotubes (PEI@CNT), and MXene through physical and chemical entanglement.

Innovation 1: The resulting CNF/PEI@CNT/MXene (CPCM) aerogel exhibits excellent light absorption, efficient photothermal conversion, and outstanding mechanical stability, achieving a maximum stress of 143.7 kPa at 80% strain.

Innovation 2: By optimizing vertically aligned beam-column pore channels, the CPCM aerogel demonstrates significantly improved hydrophilicity, antifouling properties, and water transport performance. Under 1-sun illumination (1.0 kW m−2), the CPCM aerogel achieves an evaporation rate of 2.02 kg m−2h−1 in real seawater with a photothermal conversion efficiency of 99.88%.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2025.163882