Hierarchical nanotubular clay materials derived from natural cellulose substance

•Nanotubular clay materials templated by cellulose substance were fabricated.•The clay (composite) materials possess hierarchical morphologies.•Iron nanoparticle-immobilized clay composite decolorizes dye solution.

Versatile hierarchical nanotubular clay materials were fabricated by using natural cellulose substance as template. Cellulose nanofibers were pre-coated with ultrathin titania gel films employing the surface sol–gel process, followed by layer-by-layer self-assembly of poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) and the specific clay nanosheets (kunipia-F, montmorillonite-K10 and sumecton-SA) through electrostatic interactions. The as-deposited cellulose/titania/polymer/clay composite sheets were calcined to remove the organic components, resulting in bulk hierarchical nanotubular titania/clay hybrid materials. Further sulfuric acid solution treatment of the resultant titania/kunipia-F hybrid sheet led to the pure nanotubular structured kunipia-F material. Low-temperature sodium hydroxide/urea solution treatment of the as-prepared cellulose/titania/polymer/kunipia-F composite sheet formed nanotubular titania/polymer/kunipia-F hybrid. Iron nanoparticles were immobilized onto the as-prepared cellulose/titania/polymer/kunipia-F composite sheet as the substrate, resulting in a new composite material showing high efficiency of decoloration of aqueous methylene blue.

Graphical abstractA series of hierarchical nanotubular structured clay (composite) materials were developed by using cellulose filter paper as template, which was achieved by layer-by-layer self-assembly of polyelectrolyte layer and clay nanosheets (kunipia-F, montmorillonite-K10 and sumecton-SA) onto the titania ultrathin film precoated cellulose nanofibers of filter paper, followed by removal of the template species by different treatment manners.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide