Highly efficient construction of sustainable bacterial cellulose aerogels with boosting PM filter efficiency by tuning functional group.

Air pollution has become a major public health concern, attracting considerable attention from researchers working on environmentally friendly and sustainable materials. In this work, bacterial cellulose (BC) derived aerogels were fabricated by the directional ice-templated method and used as filters to remove PM particles. We modified the surface functional groups of BC aerogel with reactive silane precursors, and investigated the interfacial and structural properties of those aerogels. The results show that BC-derived aerogels have excellent compressive elasticity, and their directional growth orientation inside the structure significantly reduced pressure drop. Moreover, the BC-derived filters exhibit an exceptional quantitative removal effect on fine particulate matter, which, in the presence of high concentrations of fine particulate matter, they can achieve a high-efficiency removal standard of 95 %. Meanwhile, the BC-derived aerogels showed superior biodegradation performance in the soil burial test. These results paved the way for BC-derived aerogels development as a great sustainable alternative to treat air pollution.