PAMAM generation-regulated chitosan/carboxymethyl cellulose–UiO-66-NH2 aerogels for CO2, formaldehyde, and cigarette-smoke purification

Bio-based porous adsorbents for multicomponent air purification are often constrained by limited active-site density, insufficient control over hierarchical pore architectures, and inadequate mechanical robustness. Herein, chitosan was functionalized with poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers of different generations and combined with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and UiO-66-NH 2 to construct nitrogen-enriched composite aerogels. The effects of PAMAM generation and UiO-66-NH 2 loading on the pore architecture, surface chemistry, mechanical response, and pollutant-capture performance of the aerogels were systematically evaluated. The optimized CG 2 MUNA-2 aerogel exhibited a well-connected porous network and sustained a compressive stress of 13.62 MPa at 80% strain. It achieved a CO 2 uptake of 0.64 mmol·g −1 at 273.15 K and a formaldehyde adsorption capacity of 1.57 mmol g −1 , while retaining 92.4% of its initial formaldehyde adsorption capacity after five adsorption-desorption cycles. When incorporated into cigarette filter rods, CG 2 MUNA-2 reduced CO, CO 2 , and total particulate matter by 30.87%, 14.01%, and 62.58%, respectively. Its superior overall performance was associated with a favorable balance among accessible amine functionalities, pore connectivity, and UiO-66-NH 2 dispersion. These results indicate that the coordinated regulation of PAMAM generation and MOF loading offers a rational materials-design strategy for developing biopolymer-based aerogels for multicomponent air-pollutant capture and cigarette-smoke purification. Download: Download high-res image (278KB) Download: Download full-size image