Ultrafine Mn ferrite by anchoring in a cellulose framework for efficient toxic ions capture and fast water/oil separation.

The serious agglomeration phenomenon of ultrafine nanoparticles is widespread, resulting in low utilization and poor performance of adsorbents in the scavenging of toxic ions. Herein, ultrafine MnFe2 O4 (8-13 nm) are uniformly anchored onto the cellulose framework by fast hydrothermal and freeze-drying processes. The as-prepared super-hydrophilic MnFe2 O4 /cellulose aerogel (MCA) had a three-dimensional (3D) network structure with interconnected and forked fibrils, developed porous structure and high surface area. Combined with the adsorption-aggregation effect of cellulose and high surface activity of the low agglomerated ultrafine MnFe2 O4 , the adsorption efficiency of MCA was strongly improved and thus achieved a higher utilization. To enable its further use in a hostile environment for the treatment of severe oil pollution, FAS-17 was used to modify the MnFe2 O4 /cellulose aerogel (F-MCA) for achieving full utilization of their intrinsic structural features. The lipophilic F-MCA exhibited a large bearing capacity on the water and fast adsorption performance for oils/organic solvents.