Coherent-Interface-Assembled Ag2O-Anchored Nanofibrillated Cellulose Porous Aerogels for Radioactive Iodine Capture

Nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) has received increasing attention in science and technology because of not only the availability of large amounts of cellulose in nature but also its unique structural and physical features. These high-aspect-ratio nanofibers have potential applications in water remediation and as a reinforcing scaffold in composites, coatings, and porous materials because of their fascinating properties. In this work, highly porous NFC aerogels were prepared based on tert-butanol freeze-drying of ultrasonically isolated bamboo NFC with 20–80 nm diameters. Then nonagglomerated 2–20-nm-diameter silver oxide (Ag2O) nanoparticles (NPs) were grown firmly onto the NFC scaffold with a high loading content of ∼500 wt % to fabricate Ag2O@NFC organic–inorganic composite aerogels (Ag2O@NFC). For the first time, the coherent interface and interaction mechanism between the cellulose Iβ nanofiber and Ag2O NPs are explored by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and 3D electron tomography. Sp...