Facile and green synthesis of Pd-decorated alginate/ nanofibrillated cellulose aerogel for simultaneous dye degradation, oil/water separation and oil collection

Water pollution caused by dyeing wastewater discharge, organic chemical reagent leakage and frequent oil spill incidents has received wide international attention. Various methods for the removal of single pollutant from wastewater have been proposed. However, developing advanced materials capable of simultaneously and effectively removing multifarious pollutants from wastewater remains a challenging task. In this study, a novel multifunctional Pd-decorated alginate/nanofibrillated cellulose (Pd@ALG/NFC) aerogel was successfully fabricated through a facile and green in-situ reduction, followed by solution-aerogel conversion strategy. The as-prepared Pd@ALG/NFC aerogel exhibits superior catalytic activity and excellent underwater superoleophobicity, which not only can rapidly degrade methylene blue, but also can continuously and efficiently separate various kinds of organic pollutants and oils from water by gravity. Furthermore, the aerogel is compressible, shape stable and recyclable. All these features make the hybrid aerogel a promising candidate for multi-pollutants wastewater treatment.