Bacterial cellulose reinforced industrial graphene oxide composite aerogel for high-efficiency adsorption and thermal insulation

This study fabricated a composite aerogel (BcIGA) with both efficient adsorption and thermal insulation properties by combining bacterial cellulose (BC) with industrial-grade graphene oxide (IGO). By incorporating BC to reinforce the aerogel skeleton via hydrogen bonding and physical entanglement, the composite's compressive strength was significantly enhanced, with BcIGA-4 reaching 105.3 kPa. This addresses structural defects in IGO that compromise mechanical performance. The nanofiber structure of BC optimized the pore distribution, increasing the specific surface area of the composite aerogel from 1.85 m 2 /g (IGA) to 4.11 m 2 /g (BcIGA-2). BcIGAs' abundant defects and residual oxygen groups enabled rapid, high-capacity adsorption: achieving 286.1 ± 14.1 mg/g for methylene blue (MB) and 232.7 ± 19.1 mg/g for tetracycline (TC), with > 88 % retention after six cycles. Moreover, the introduction of BC lengthened the heat transfer path, while the IGO layers also acted as a barrier to infrared radiation, resulting in a synergistic decrease in the thermal conductivity of BcIGAs. Specifically, BcIGA-2 had a thermal conductivity of 0.036 ± 0.002 W/(m·K), while BcIGA-4 decreased to 0.031 ± 0.001 W/(m·K). Composite with BC not only makes up for the quality deficiencies of IGO but also substantially improves its overall performance, achieving a synergistic optimization of the "adsorption-insulation-mechanical" properties. This research opens up a new path for the application of low-cost industrial graphene products and is expected to drive the advancement of relevant studies.