Cellulose/polymer/silica composite cotton fiber based on a hyperbranch-mesostructure system as versatile adsorbent for water treatment.

The present study describes the preparation of a hybrid cellulose-based adsorbent (HM-cotton) containing a dot-plane composite adsorption system. The dot-plane adsorption structure is formed by the plane of hyperbranched polymer (HBP) layer distributed by the functional mesoporous nanoparticle (CA-MSN) dots, fabricating hyperbranch-mesostructure system via self-assembly. The resultant adsorbent HM-cotton was characterized, and the adsorption mechanism for dyes and metal ions was also discussed in detail. The results show that the adsorption data is fitted to Pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm model, and owing to the dot-plane system possessing functional mesostructure of CA-MSNs with large surface area and substantial adsorption sites from HBP macromolecules, HM-cotton exhibits versatile, highly-efficiency and sustainable adsorption properties for dyes such as CR and MB, and metal ions such as Fe3+ and Cu2+ from aqueous media. The saturated adsorption capacities are 243.7, 165.4, 143.8 and 119.1mg/g for CR, MB, Fe3+ and Cu2+, respectively.