Engineered cellulose interfaces for water remediation: linking interfacial design, contaminant fate, and translational performance
- Hossein Omidian1*corresponding author
- Arnavaz Akhzarmehr1
- Sumana Dey Chowdhury1
- Barry and Judy Silverman College of Pharmacy, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL, United States
Abstract
Cellulose-based water-remediation materials are increasingly engineered beyond conventional biosorbents, yet their practical significance cannot be judged from adsorption capacity or removal efficiency alone. This Review frames engineered cellulose as an interface-to-process platform, examining how chemical functionality, architecture, transport, mechanical behavior, wettability, and recoverability govern contaminant fate and treatment performance. Evidence spanning adsorption, membrane separation, oil–water treatment, catalytic transformation, disinfection, contaminant recovery, and water reuse is evaluated across major contaminant classes. Across these applications, cellulose functions not only as a sorbent but also as a transport matrix, structural scaffold, membrane-forming phase, support for reactive components, and recoverable process interface. The literature demonstrates substantial tunability, but high performance under optimized conditions does not necessarily translate to complex water matrices, continuous operation, repeated regeneration, or safe treated water. Mechanistic interpretation also requires distinguishing adsorption from separation, transformation, detoxification, and recovery using endpoint-appropriate evidence. Realistic-water validation, long-duration operation, regeneration durability, material stability, treated-water safety, and scalable fabrication therefore remain central requirements for translation. Engineered cellulose offers a versatile platform for water treatment, but its technological value ultimately depends on demonstrating durable, endpoint-specific advantages under process-relevant conditions.
Keywords
1 Introduction
Water-remediation technologies increasingly confront chemically and operationally heterogeneous streams rather than isolated contaminants. Industrial effluents, textile wastewater, produced water, drinking-water sources, and reuse-oriented treatment systems can contain metals, oxyanions, dyes, pharmaceuticals, oils, dissolved salts, microorganisms, and broader water-quality contaminants. Consequently, cellulose-based treatment research now extends beyond conventional adsorption toward membrane separation, catalytic treatment, disinfection, oil–water processing, contaminant recovery, and reuse-oriented purification (Al-Hazmi et al., 2025; Duan et al., 2024; Lin et al., 2025; Saud et al., 2023; Tang et al., 2023; Zhang et al., 2017).
Cellulose is attractive within this landscape because renewable feedstocks can be transformed into chemically and structurally diverse treatment platforms. Cellulose nanocrystals (CNC), cellulose nanofibers (CNF), bacterial cellulose (BC), carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), cellulose acetate, hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC), regenerated cellulose, oxidized cellulose, and lignocellulosic derivatives have been configured as hydrogels, beads, aerogels, cryogels, fibers, films, membranes, magnetic composites, and catalytic hybrids (Bates et al., 2021; Chen et al., 2025; Georgouvelas et al., 2021; Lee et al., 2024; Qin et al., 2025). Their value, however, does not arise simply from renewable origin or native hydroxyl chemistry. The value of cellulose is greatest when it is deliberately engineered as an interface that controls contaminant access, chemical interaction, transport, phase separation, mechanical handling, and material recovery.
Recent review literature addresses hydrogel-based wastewater treatment and helps define the contribution of a broader interface-centered synthesis. Cellulose-based hydrogels for wastewater treatment through adsorption have been reviewed recently (Verma, 2026). A complementary review addressed the role of chitosan hydrogel nanocomposites in wastewater management (Verma et al., 2026). Together, these reviews provide context for hydrated biopolymer networks across the contaminant classes and process configurations considered here; the present Review extends the analysis across cellulose beads, aerogels, cryogels, membranes, fibers, carbonaceous composites, inorganic hybrids, magnetic systems, and multifunctional platforms, while explicitly connecting material design to contaminant fate, transport, regeneration, realistic-water performance, and translational evidence.
This distinction is important because compositional complexity is increasing rapidly. Metal–organic framework (MOF) materials, zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF) materials, metal oxides and sulfides, Prussian-blue analogues, carbon phases, magnetic particles, photocatalysts, and antimicrobial agents can modify adsorption, catalytic, optical, mechanical, or recovery behavior (Cota-Leal et al., 2024; He et al., 2025; Li et al., 2026; Lin et al., 2023; Yang et al., 2026). In such composites, cellulose may be the primary sorbent, a chemically active component, a hydrated mass-transfer matrix, a support that immobilizes difficult-to-recover particles, or a process-compatible scaffold. The relevant question is therefore not simply whether a material contains cellulose, but which engineering function cellulose contributes to the treatment interface.
Performance metrics require similar caution. Maximum adsorption capacity, percentage removal, membrane rejection, permeability, hydraulic flux, oil uptake, mineralization, and microbial log reduction do not describe equivalent processes. A high-capacity batch adsorbent addresses a different engineering objective from a membrane that must sustain rejection under flow, an aerogel separating emulsified oil, or a catalytic system transforming a hazardous contaminant. Consequently, performance should be interpreted in relation to contaminant chemistry, concentration, pH, dose, contact time, matrix composition, hydraulic configuration, regeneration method, and intended treatment endpoint.
This Review therefore treats cellulose-based remediation as an interface-to-process problem. Fabrication and chemical modification determine structure and surface properties; these properties regulate contaminant accessibility, transport, binding, separation, and transformation; operating conditions determine measured performance; and matrix tolerance, regenerability, safety, hydraulic stability, and manufacturability determine translational relevance. The central proposition is not that cellulose-based materials are universally superior sorbents, but that cellulose provides an unusually adaptable framework for constructing application-specific water-remediation interfaces. The Graphical Abstract provides a compact overview of this design-to-impact sequence, while Figure 1 formalizes the interface-to-process framework linking deliberate surface and structural design to the engineered interface, contaminant fate, and process-level validation.
2 Scope and critical review approach
The primary evidence base comprises over a hundred remediation studies covering adsorption, membrane treatment, oil–water separation, catalytic degradation, disinfection, contaminant recovery, and integrated water purification. Five reviewer-specified review articles are additionally used to position the manuscript against contemporary literature; their supplied author–year labels are retained to avoid altering the authoritative numerical sequence.
Almost all studies differ substantially in evidentiary depth. Some provide adsorption capacity, kinetics, thermodynamics, functional characterization, interference testing, regeneration, and real-water validation. Others focus on permeability, membrane rejection, oil-separation flux, disinfection, catalytic conversion, or treated-water quality. Several focus primarily on material synthesis and report incomplete quantitative remediation endpoints. Accordingly, the Review does not impose a universal cross-study ranking.
Characterization is treated similarly. Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area, porosity, swelling, zeta potential, ligand density, contact angle, tensile or compressive strength, permeability, particle dimensions, and magnetic response can all affect treatment behavior, but none independently establishes superiority. The analytical objective is instead to determine where reported properties plausibly explain contaminant accessibility, selectivity, transport, stability, recovery, and process compatibility.
3 Contaminant systems, fate, and remediation objectives
3.1 Metals, metalloids, and inorganic ions
Inorganic contaminants constitute a substantial, extensively represented domain of cellulose remediation. Representative approaches include cerium-MOF/CMC–chitosan hydrogel beads for Ni(II), sugarcane-bagasse-derived cellulose acetate/graphene oxide films for Ni(II), radiation-crosslinked CMC/2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid hydrogels for toxic metals, MnO2/Fe2O3-loaded cassava biochar for Co(II) and Cr(VI), and date-palm nanocellulose for Co removal (Al-Hazmi et al., 2025; Aldalbahi et al., 2020; Ali, 2012; Belcaid et al., 2024; Bin Bandar and Aljlil, 2023). Collectively, these studies show that cellulose can function as a hydrogel matrix, film-forming polymer, nanoscale adsorbent, or carbon-derived scaffold. However, their reported capacities and percentages cannot be directly ranked because operating conditions differ.
Architecture becomes increasingly important when metal capture must be reconciled with handling or flow. Microfluidically fabricated sodium-alginate/CNF microspheres reached high Pb(II) capacity and were evaluated in fixed-bed operation, whereas cellulose-containing ultrafiltration membranes provided Fe/Co or Fe/Cu isolation under pressure-driven conditions (Chen Y. et al., 2024; Çifci et al., 2019; Çifci et al., 2021). CNC-templated iron-oxide nanorods targeted As(III) and As(V), while 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO)-oxidized CNF were converted into three-dimensional adsorptive forms for Cu(II) removal (Dong et al., 2020; Fiol et al., 2019). These systems illustrate distinct process objectives even within a single contaminant class: adsorption capacity, metal selectivity, membrane retention, and fixed-bed operation are not interchangeable endpoints. A complementary within-study example is provided by electrospun cellulose-acetate/nanoclay composites for Cr(VI): under the reported pH 5 and 25 °C conditions, adsorption capacity increased from 1.11 mg g-1 for neat cellulose acetate to 17.3 mg g-1 for CA/NC3, while removal efficiency increased from 3.13% to 44.19% (Figure 2) (Tsekova and Stoilova, 2022). The comparison shows how a compositional change within the same processing platform can alter a metal-removal endpoint without invoking cross-study ranking.
Several studies combine chemical functionality with structural or recovery advantages. Irradiated CMC/Ca-montmorillonite films linked clay loading and irradiation to mechanical behavior and Cu(II) adsorption; microcrystalline cellulose (MCC)@CaCO3/Fe3O4 combined Cd(II) uptake with magnetic recovery; and magnetic CMC/tea-waste-biochar/ZIF-67 aerogels were tested against Pb and Cd, including battery-factory wastewater (Gad et al., 2021; Li et al., 2026; Lin et al., 2025). Sulfonic- and amino-functional cellulose performed rapidly in high-salinity leather wastewater, while bifunctional aminated/dithiocarbamate corn-stalk cellulose provided high-density binding chemistry for Cu and Pb (Liu J. T. et al., 2021; Liu et al., 2022).
Low-concentration recovery and ligand design represent a further level of specialization. Thiosemicarbazide-modified cellulose aerogels combined electrostatic attraction, chelation, and reduction for Ag(I); deep-eutectic-solvent-treated sulfated lignocellulose/CNF materials addressed metal decontamination in handleable hydrogel or sponge formats; and multifunctional protein-bearing cellulose nanocomposites integrated amine, thiol, and carbonyl groups for Cd, Ni, and Pb uptake (Liu Y. F. et al., 2021; Montenegro et al., 2025; Rajaei et al., 2025). Corn-husk-derived CNC likewise provided negatively charged interfaces for Pb and arsenic capture, whereas phosphonate/amino cellulose–chitosan hydrogels achieved rapid Pb and Cu adsorption supported by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and density functional theory (DFT) analysis (Solano-Reynoso et al., 2024; Sun et al., 2024).
Other metal-remediation studies emphasize regenerability, selectivity, or economic comparison. Polyacrylamide-grafted bagasse cellulose was investigated for Hg(II) with acid regeneration; dicarboxylic nanocellulose (DNC) for Cu(II) was directly compared with powdered activated carbon (AC); and poly(methacrylic acid)-functionalized electrospun cellulose-acetate membranes showed selective heavy-metal adsorption with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA)-mediated desorption (Sun et al., 2018; Sun et al., 2022; Tian et al., 2011). MCC/magnesium-hydroxide composites targeted Co(II), while ion-imprinted cellulose microspheres were designed for selective Co recognition (Wang et al., 2021; Wu et al., 2024).
The literature increasingly addresses adverse matrices, recovery, and transformation rather than simple equilibrium uptake. Titanate/cellulose hydrogel microspheres combined Cu adsorption with an underwater oil contact angle exceeding approximately 153°; amino-nanocellulose-containing membranes targeted phosphate; and triethylenetetramine-functionalized cellulose-acetate/MnO2 materials recovered Cd and Pb from real wastewater matrices (Xiong et al., 2020; Yahya and Elshaarawy, 2023; Yakout et al., 2016). Polydopamine (PDA)@CNC/FeS combined high Cr(VI) adsorption with quantified reduction to Cr(III), while ZnO–Ag@cellulose coupled Te(IV) recovery with antimicrobial and antifouling functions (Yang et al., 2026; Yao et al., 2021).
Finally, nanocellulose/carbon-dot/Mg(OH)2 composites demonstrated contaminant-specific immobilization pathways for Cd and Cu; nanocellulose-reinforced chitosan composite films balanced mechanical properties with Cu adsorption; amino-rich porous corn-straw cellulose retained metal-removal capability over repeated cycles; and oxidized CMC/catechol–chitosan hydrogels targeted Cu, Cd, and Pb through catechol- and amine-containing networks (You et al., 2024; Zeng et al., 2022; Zhu et al., 2023; Zou, 2024). Together, these examples support viewing metal treatment as a coupled chemistry–architecture–recovery problem rather than simply a competition for maximum adsorption capacity.
3.2 Dyes and color-bearing wastewater
Dyes form a second major evidence cluster, although the literature spans widely different material and treatment concepts. Nanocellulose/poly(acrylic acid) (PAA)/AC films, palm-nanocellulose/chitosan composites, MnO2-loaded cassava-cellulose biochar, wastepaper-reinforced hydrogels, and magnetic cellulose-derived carbons have been evaluated against cationic, anionic, or mixed dye systems (Almuslem et al., 2023; Bassyouni et al., 2022; Belcaid et al., 2023; Bora and Karak, 2023; Chai et al., 2026). These studies show that cellulose can support both hydrated polymer networks and carbonaceous sorbents, while also differing substantially in equilibrium time, dose, adsorption capacity, and regeneration behavior. The palm-derived nanocellulose/chitosan study provides a direct visual example: treatment of Direct Blue 78 (DB78) synthetic wastewater with chitosan, nanocellulose, and nanocellulose/chitosan microbeads (CCMB-0.25:1) produced visibly different clarification and settling behavior (Figure 3) (Bassyouni et al., 2022). This comparison is useful because it emphasizes not only aqueous-phase discoloration but also the handling consequences of the adsorbent form.
Functional-group engineering can substantially change dye affinity and selectivity. Multiamine spherical nanocellulose–nanobentonite composites rapidly captured anionic dyes; EDTA-linked chitosan/cellulose strongly increased methyl-orange capacity over either constituent alone; amino-functionalized cellulose/lignosulfonate aerogels captured both dyes and Cd; banana-bract-nanocellulose composite films provided independently reported methylene-blue adsorption; and cellulose/PAA@laponite hydrogels combined very high dye capacities with mechanical stability and fixed-bed/real-wastewater evidence (Chithung et al., 2026; El Bourachdi et al., 2025; Elsayed et al., 2023; Eti et al., 2023; Fang et al., 2025). This range illustrates why maximum capacity should be interpreted alongside architecture, matrix, kinetics, and deployability.
Responsive and highly hydrated networks provide a different strategy. Lignin/HEC/poly(vinyl alcohol) superabsorbent hydrogels, EDTA-crosslinked HEC, pH-responsive chitin/cellulose nanofibrillar networks, AC-ZIF-8/regenerated-cellulose beads, and radiation-grafted poly[4-vinylbenzenesulfonic acid sodium salt (VBSA)]-cellulose exploit swelling, ionic functionality, or particle immobilization to create recoverable dye-binding interfaces (Huang et al., 2019; Jabir et al., 2022; Jung et al., 2023; Lee et al., 2024; Misra et al., 2020). Of particular interest are cases in which network responsiveness assists regeneration or powder-like, high-area phases are immobilized within macroscopic cellulose structures.
Regeneration data further complicate performance ranking. Graphene-oxide-crosslinked chitosan/CMC hydrogels were evaluated over twenty continuous regeneration cycles; cellulose/polyaniline adsorbents treated cationic and anionic dyes without strong mutual inhibition; carbon-black-containing CMC hydrogels showed incremental property and removal changes relative to precursor networks; barley-straw nanofiber aerogels linked nanofibrillation route to structural properties; and electrically assisted cellulose/polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)/AC membranes combined dye purification with salt rejection (Mittal et al., 2021; Nguyen et al., 2022; Pakdel et al., 2022; Pirozzi et al., 2023; Ramadoss et al., 2020).
Surface modification can also reveal direct structure–function trade-offs. 3-Aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES)- and hexadecyltrimethoxysilane (HDTMS)-modified nanocellulose changed hydrogel adsorption behavior; NH2-MIL-125/cellulose aerogels combined MOF loading with high methylene-blue uptake; quaternized carboxy CNC were incorporated into a low-resistance nanofiltration architecture; hyperbranched/mesoporous hybrid cotton treated both dyes and metals; and nanoclay-containing electrospun cellulose-acetate fibers demonstrated composition-dependent adsorption even where extractable numerical performance was incomplete (Safavi-Mirmahalleh et al., 2019; Song et al., 2025; Tang et al., 2026; Tao et al., 2017; Tsekova and Stoilova, 2022).
Several application-relevant dye studies move beyond ideal batch conditions. Amino-rich corn-stalk cellulose was evaluated dynamically using authentic wastewater; porous sodium-alginate/CMC–melamine sponge composites demonstrated anti-interference and reuse; CMC/organic-montmorillonite hydrogels linked improved pore/swelling characteristics with dye adsorption; cellulose-graft-acrylic-acid hydrogels combined extreme swelling with partial acid desorption; and amphoteric cellulose-grafted calcium hydroxide exhibited distinctly different regeneration retention for anionic and cationic dyes (Wang et al., 2023; Zeng et al., 2023; Zhao and Sun, 2025; Zhou et al., 2011; Zhu et al., 2021). Taken together, the dye literature provides substantial evidence of tunable adsorption, but its practical significance depends increasingly on whether that tunability persists under dynamic, mixed, and regenerable conditions.
3.3 Pharmaceuticals and other organic micropollutants
Organic micropollutant treatment expands the mechanistic demands placed on cellulose interfaces. CuS/cellulose-acetate nanofibers introduce photocatalytic functionality; cattail-cellulose/ZIF-8 aerogels target enrofloxacin through hydrogen bonding, electrostatic attraction, and π–π interactions; regenerated-cellulose/zinc Prussian blue analogue (ZnPBA) membranes combine tetracycline treatment with oil separation and antibacterial activity; functionalized cellulose hydrogel beads target 4-chlorophenol; and magnetic corn-husk-cellulose/MOF composites remove methotrexate, including from real wastewater (Cota-Leal et al., 2024; Cui et al., 2021; Duan et al., 2024; Hamidon et al., 2022; Hazrati et al., 2025).
Other systems explicitly couple adsorption with degradation or biological catalysis. Cellulose/Cu-loaded activated-carbon beads immobilize laccase for bisphenol-A degradation; ionic-liquid-grafted cellulose aerogels adsorb tetracycline and several dyes; CMC/alginate/polyethyleneimine (PEI)/ZIF-67 architectures combine Cr(VI) adsorption with catalytic organic-dye degradation; dialdehyde-cellulose/gelatin networks adsorb tannic acid and show antibacterial function; and CdS/UiO-66-NH2-containing cellulose aerogels integrate adsorption and photocatalysis (Li et al., 2024; Liang et al., 2025; Lin et al., 2023; Liu et al., 2025; Mi et al., 2025). Such multifunctionality is potentially valuable for mixed wastewaters but increases the need to distinguish reversible capture from actual transformation.
More process-oriented studies broaden the evidence base. BC/MoS2 couples photodynamic, photothermal, and photocatalytic activity with microbial inactivation; nanocellulose/alum/chitosan/PEI beads remove diclofenac from simulated river water but show substantial performance decline during regeneration; silane-modified cellulose-acetate nanofiber aerogels combine oil separation with peroxymonosulfate-driven carbamazepine degradation; cellulose-laurate aerogels target pyridine and chlorobenzene; and cellulose triacetate (CTA)/thin-film composite (TFC) forward-osmosis systems have been compared for the removal of 30 trace organic contaminants within wastewater-reuse treatment (Shen et al., 2022; Tang et al., 2023; Tian et al., 2024; Wang et al., 2017; Zhang et al., 2017). Here, contaminant disappearance, adsorption capacity, mineralization, and membrane rejection describe different environmental outcomes and should be interpreted separately.
3.4 Oily wastewater and produced-water separation
Oil-remediation systems show particularly clearly why wettability, mechanics, and transport can dominate over equilibrium adsorption chemistry. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)/CMC/BC aerogels combine dye sorption with rapid petroleum-ether uptake; microorganism-immobilized HEC/luffa sponges integrate oil adsorption and biodegradation; all-weather sodium carboxymethyl cellulose/MXene/carbon-nanotube porous materials target high-viscosity crude oil; hydrophobic herbal-residue cellulose cryogels separate emulsions; and triple-network sesbania-gum/nanocellulose aerogels combine very high porosity with repeatable oil recovery (Chen et al., 2025; Chen L. H. et al., 2024; Chen Z. C. et al., 2024; Lei et al., 2023; Li et al., 2025).
Other studies shift from sorption toward hydraulic separation and adverse-matrix resistance. HDTMS-modified nanocellulose aerogels display concentration-dependent oil uptake and mechanical strength; CNC-containing forward-osmosis membranes improve both salt and oil rejection for produced water; CMC/alginate/TiO2–multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) aerogels achieve high-flux immiscible and stabilized-emulsion separation; and magnetic Harakeke-cellulose aerogels provide external-field recovery but lose substantial capacity during repeated squeezing cycles (Rafieian et al., 2018; Saud et al., 2023; Wang et al., 2024; Zhai and Yuan, 2023). These examples indicate that oil-remediation performance is best evaluated using a combination of wetting state, flux, emulsion rejection, mechanical cycling, and recovery.
3.5 Disinfection, antimicrobial function, and biofouling control
Microbial treatment usually appears as part of multifunctional cellulose platforms rather than as conventional sorption. CNF–Ag–MgO–nanohydroxyapatite (AgMgOnHaP) combines fluoride removal with antibacterial activity; TiO2@CMC hydrogels provide pathogen and biofilm control; Ag/ZIF-8/CNF filters combine strong antibacterial activity with limited dynamic flux decline; date-pomace bacterial nanocellulose demonstrates reduced protein adsorption and E. coli colonization; and Padina-extract/HEC/PVP aerogels provide bioactive antimicrobial functionality (Ayinde et al., 2022; El-Lateef et al., 2024; He et al., 2025; Mazumder et al., 2026; Taleb and Alzidan, 2024). For the CNF–Ag–MgO–nanohydroxyapatite system, the inhibition-zone assay shows concentration-dependent antibacterial activity against E. coli, S. aureus, and K. pneumoniae (Figure 4) (Ayinde et al., 2022). The result is appropriately interpreted as evidence of antibacterial activity under the stated assay conditions rather than as proof of long-term biofouling control in a treatment module.
Mn-oxide-containing dialdehyde-cellulose/gelatin hydrogels provide another example in which adsorption and antimicrobial function coexist (Tohamy et al., 2023). Such studies extend cellulose remediation beyond contaminant capture while also creating different evidence requirements: microbial log reduction, biofilm inhibition, antimicrobial stability, leaching, and treated-water safety cannot be inferred from adsorption measurements.
Across these contaminant domains, three fundamentally different fates recur: capture or immobilization, selective separation, and transformation or inactivation. Because similar percentage-removal values can describe fundamentally different processes, the contaminant-fate distinction is summarized in Figure 5. The figure also makes regeneration explicit, because capture is not a complete process description unless the retained contaminant and the spent interface are subsequently recovered, regenerated, stabilized, or disposed of appropriately.
4 Engineering cellulose as a water-remediation interface
4.1 Feedstock choice, derivatization, and processability
Cellulose feedstocks span purified polymers and agricultural, textile, forestry, paper, and food-processing wastes. This diversity creates opportunities for circularity, but material performance can depend strongly on subsequent transformations rather than on botanical source alone. Lignin-biochar/cellulose hydrogels illustrate the use of multiple biomass-derived phases, spent-coffee-ground processing combines cellulose recovery with waste-stream valorization, oil-palm residues provide nanocellulose for combined metal/organic treatment, textile waste can be carbonized and activated into high-area adsorbents, and ball milling of lotus-leaf waste exposes or transforms cellulose surface functionality (Gonçalves et al., 2025; Naghdbishi and Khorasani, 2025; Septevani et al., 2020; Trivunac et al., 2024; Yang et al., 2020).
The resulting design space includes nanocellulose preparation, oxidation, esterification, graft copolymerization, regeneration, carbonization, activation, and physical exposure of otherwise inaccessible cellulose. Each route changes not only surface chemistry but also processing burden, yield, solvent demand, and the geometry in which the material can ultimately be deployed.
4.2 Hydrogels, beads, and hydrated networks
Hydrogels convert water-compatible cellulose derivatives into recoverable three-dimensional networks while retaining aqueous pathways to internal binding sites. Radiation-copolymerized CMC/methacrylic acid/acrylamide networks demonstrate that monomer composition controls gel fraction and swelling; chitosan-g-polyacrylamide/CMC composites show the influence of CMC content, hydrolysis, salinity, and pH response; and biochar-containing cellulose hydrogels illustrate how a particulate functional phase can be integrated into a swollen polymer architecture (El-Arnaouty et al., 2019; Ferfera-Harrar et al., 2016; Gonçalves et al., 2025).
A related design direction uses hydrogels not merely as adsorbents but as active components of osmotic water treatment. Quaternary graphene oxide-modified CMC/acrylic-acid hydrogels, for example, were investigated as forward-osmosis draw agents, where greater swelling and porosity were linked to increased water flux (Shakeri et al., 2019). This application reinforces a recurring principle: a hydrogel property such as swelling has meaning only in relation to its intended process function.
Beads and microspheres address an additional handling challenge by converting finely divided or soluble materials into macroscopic contactors. Their relevance is greatest when shape, mechanical integrity, and mass transport are considered together with chemistry, as demonstrated by fixed-bed-compatible microfluidic microspheres (Chen Y. et al., 2024) and cellulose-immobilized high-area carbon/MOF-derived particles (Lee et al., 2024).
4.3 Aerogels, cryogels, and porous monoliths
Aerogels and cryogels provide interconnected void space while preserving a macroscopic form. Cattail-derived hybrid aerogels show how freeze-dried cellulose structures can combine porosity, hydrophobicity, and secondary functions (Qin et al., 2025). Hydrophobic nanocellulose aerogels demonstrate an explicit trade-off between low-density/high-uptake formulations and more mechanically robust higher-solids formulations (Rafieian et al., 2018). Herbal-residue cryogels (Lei et al., 2023), sesbania-gum/nanocellulose aerogels (Li et al., 2025), and electrospun cellulose-acetate nanofiber aerogels (Tian et al., 2024) similarly illustrate the breadth of porous architectures used for oil, dye, or pharmaceutical-related treatment.
Such structures are particularly sensitive to the distinction between dry-state characterization and wet-state operation. Extremely high porosity may favor uptake but also increase compression vulnerability; freeze-drying preserves pore structure but contributes fabrication energy; and hydrophobic modification improves oil selectivity while adding synthetic steps. Porous architecture is therefore a means of regulating transport and wetting, not an intrinsic measure of treatment superiority.
4.4 Films, electrospun fibers, and membranes
Flow-compatible cellulose formats provide a direct, process-relevant means of connecting laboratory material design with process requirements. Electrospun chitosan/polyethylene-oxide/TEMPO-cellulose structures provide nanoscale fibers supported by a porous cellulose core; nylon/cellulose-acetate membranes have been evaluated for household-wastewater nanofiltration; and all-cellulose layered membranes integrate adsorptive and catalytic functions (Bates et al., 2021; Fazullin et al., 2021; Georgouvelas et al., 2021).
Bamboo-cellulose ultrafiltration/nanofiltration systems demonstrate the importance of treated-water quality and temporal flux behavior, while lignocellulosic corn-stalk membranes combine adsorption, charge repulsion, and size exclusion (Weng et al., 2024; Wu et al., 2026). These studies move beyond simple capacity measurements because membrane usefulness depends on rejection, permeability, pressure tolerance, fouling, and flux stability.
Photothermal cellulose-rich wood aerogels introduce yet another process mode: rather than accumulating contaminants in an adsorbent, solar-driven interfacial evaporation produces a purified water stream with strong ion and contaminant rejection under the reported conditions (Zhu et al., 2025). The appropriate evaluation framework therefore changes with the process architecture.
4.5 Hybrid and multifunctional interfaces
Hybridization expands cellulose beyond its native interaction chemistry. Inorganic particles, MOF materials, ZIF materials, metal sulfides, magnetic phases, carbon materials, and photocatalysts can introduce selective coordination, redox transformation, catalytic activation, antimicrobial function, or recoverability. Their value is clearest when cellulose provides a necessary engineering contribution—for example, immobilizing powders in a recoverable matrix or providing a continuous porous network for transport.
Recent analysis surveys emerging chalcogenide materials for contaminant elimination from wastewater (Verma et al., 2025a). This adjacent literature provides context for reactive inorganic phases but is not used here to establish specific claims about toxicity, scale-up, or long-term durability. For cellulose–chalcogenide or analogous hybrids, secondary release, catalyst stability, transformation-product fate, and operational lifetime are therefore treated as validation requirements in the present synthesis rather than as conclusions established by that review.
Greater complexity should therefore carry a greater burden of evidence. A multifunctional system that adsorbs, catalytically degrades, separates oil, and suppresses microorganisms should demonstrate that each function is stable and environmentally meaningful rather than relying on a single high removal percentage.
5 Structure–property–performance relationships
The central materials question is not simply whether synthesis was successful, but whether the measured properties explain treatment function. Surface area, pore structure, swelling, charge, functional-group density, morphology, permeability, contact angle, mechanical strength, and recoverability acquire meaning only through their consequences for contaminant access, mass transfer, selectivity, hydraulic behavior, or durability.
This interpretation is consistent with the scope of a recent review presenting biochar/hydrogel composites as a platform for sustainable water treatment (Verma et al., 2025b). Its scope provides context rather than direct evidence for the specific structure–property relationships synthesized here. Network architecture, porosity, swelling, interfacial interactions, regeneration, realistic wastewater, scale-up, sustainability, and toxicity are therefore treated as evaluation dimensions derived from the supplied cellulose evidence base.
Porosity illustrates this point clearly. Cellulose-derived materials in the evidence base span very low to very high dry-state BET surface areas, but higher area does not by itself establish greater contaminant capacity. Hydrated polymer networks can expose substantial internal volume through swelling despite low nitrogen-accessible area, whereas AC materials can exhibit hundreds of square metres per Gram without necessarily providing the most favorable ligand chemistry for a particular metal.
Swelling presents a similar trade-off. Greater hydration can improve access to internal ionic groups and facilitate diffusion, but excessive expansion can increase path length, dilute functional-site density, weaken mechanical integrity, or impair handling. Stronger crosslinking may solve one of these problems while worsening another.
Surface chemistry provides more direct affinity control. Amino, carboxyl, sulfonic, phosphonate, catechol, dithiocarbamate, carbonyl, and quaternary-ammonium groups alter electrostatic attraction, ion exchange, chelation, complexation, and selectivity. Responsive networks are particularly valuable when a change in pH or ionic environment can facilitate contaminant release as well as capture.
Mechanical behavior, wettability, and recovery complete this set of relationships. Reinforcement can increase strength while altering porosity; hydrophobic modification improves oil selectivity while potentially reducing affinity toward hydrophilic species; and magnetic particles simplify recovery while introducing an inorganic phase whose stability must be confirmed. The principal design problem is therefore simultaneous optimization rather than maximization of a single property. In the interface-to-process framework in Figure 1, these trade-offs determine whether tailored surface chemistry and structure can be translated into selective transport, controlled contaminant fate, and process-level durability.
Within-study comparisons are particularly informative because they reduce some of the experimental differences that complicate cross-study ranking. Selected examples are summarized in Table 1.
TABLE 1. Within-study comparisons that reveal design leverage and trade-offs at engineered cellulose-water interfaces.
| Design question | Internal comparison | Quantitative within-study result | Editorial inference | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Does interpolymer coupling outperform either polysaccharide alone? | Chitosan@EDTA@cellulose compared with chitosan and cellulose for methyl orange | Maximum capacity was 55.87 mg g-1 versus 7.29 and 5.69 mg g-1; removal remained above 90% with interfering ions | The within-study gain supports a contribution from the EDTA-linked interface and shows that interference tolerance can be evaluated separately from maximum capacity | (El Bourachdi et al., 2025) |
| Does adding an antimicrobial phase improve dynamic disinfection? | Ag/ZIF-8/CNF nanofibers compared with ZIF-8/CNF film | Antibacterial rates increased from 79.95% to 98.2% for E. coli and from 83.08% to 99.1% for S. aureus; hydroxyl-radical signal was 2.70-fold higher. Dynamic flux decline was 14% | The added Ag/reactive oxygen species function improved microbial inactivation, while the dynamic test placed the antimicrobial result in the context of filtration behavior | (He et al., 2025) |
| Can feedstock choice change interfacial function more than adsorption capacity? | Date-pomace bacterial nanocellulose compared with date-seed bacterial nanocellulose | Water uptake was 552% ± 31% versus 480% ± 25%; the date-pomace material had a zeta potential of −25.6 mV, 41.4% lower bovine serum albumin (BSA) adsorption and 93.1% lower E. coli colonization | Feedstock-dependent hydration and surface properties coincided with lower protein adsorption and E. coli colonization despite modest dye capacities, showing why capacity alone is an incomplete endpoint | (Mazumder et al., 2026) |
| Do removal gains track dry-state surface area? | Precursor copolymer, CMC-containing hydrogel and carbon-black nanocomposite | Fuchsin removal rose from 83.33% to 93.54% and 98.76%; capacities rose from 26.99 to 31.6 and 33.75 mg g-1. BET area was only 0.615 m2 g-1 for the hydrogel and 0.890 m2 g-1 for the nanocomposite | The progressive performance gain was not explained by the modest reported BET-area change alone, suggesting that other hydrated-network properties likely also contributed to adsorption overall | (Pakdel et al., 2022) |
| Which formulation balances uptake and mechanics in an oil sorbent? | HDTMS-modified aerogels prepared from 0.6, 0.9, and 1.2 wt% CNF. | The 0.6 wt% formulation reached 78.8 g g-1 motor-oil and 162.4 g g-1 cooking-oil uptake; the 1.2 wt% formulation produced the highest reported stress and Young’s modulus | Maximum sorption and maximum mechanical robustness occurred at different solids contents; formulation selection therefore depends on the recovery and handling requirement | (Rafieian et al., 2018) |
| Does CNC addition improve forward-osmosis performance on every relevant axis? | Pristine TFC membrane compared with 0.05 wt% CNC thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membrane (TFN-5) | Using the source-reported pure-water-permeability unit designation (LMHB) and salt-permeability unit designation (LHM), values increased from 0.46 to 1.61 and from 0.41 to 1.42, respectively; salt rejection increased from 96.2% to 99.0% and oil rejection from 90.5% to 97.45% | CNC incorporation changed water transport, solute transport and rejection together. The permeability gain should therefore be interpreted with, rather than apart from, the salt-transport result | (Saud et al., 2023) |
| Does an added carbon phase improve the original treatment endpoint? | Oil-palm nanocellulose before and after AC incorporation | The selected 2 wt% nanocellulose formulation removed 86% Pb(II) with a capacity of 24.94 mg g-1. AC did not materially increase metal adsorption but enabled 93% chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction | Added complexity provided a different treatment function rather than strengthening Pb capture. Multifunctionality should therefore be judged by endpoint-specific benefit | (Septevani et al., 2020) |
6 Quantitative performance in application context
The evidence base contains many high reported capacities, but their scientific significance is inseparable from the operating conditions under which they were measured. Metal adsorption alone ranges from modest values to several hundred milligrams per Gram, with selected highly functionalized systems exceeding that range. Dye studies sometimes report capacities in the gram-per-gram regime. Such numerical extremes indicate achievable loading under the reported experimental conditions, not universal process superiority.
Concentration is especially important. Maximum capacities frequently arise under relatively high contaminant loadings that may not correspond to environmental concentrations. Conversely, a material tested at lower concentration may appear numerically less impressive while providing more relevant selectivity, kinetics, or treated-water quality.
Adsorbent dose creates a similar complication. Increasing adsorbent loading can raise percentage removal while decreasing calculated uptake per unit mass. pH can alter both contaminant speciation and cellulose surface charge. Temperature can affect equilibrium and swelling. Contact time determines whether reported removal represents rapid treatment or long-duration equilibration. Together, these variables make simple bar-chart rankings scientifically misleading.
Evidence from realistic water matrices provides a stronger test. High-salinity leather wastewater (Liu J. T. et al., 2021), battery-factory wastewater (Lin et al., 2025), real pharmaceutical wastewater (Hazrati et al., 2025), simulated river water (Tang et al., 2023), authentic industrial dye water (Wang et al., 2023), oily wastewater (Xiong et al., 2020), produced water (Saud et al., 2023), drinking-water treatment (Weng et al., 2024), and wastewater-reuse systems (Zhang et al., 2017) demonstrate that a subset of cellulose technologies has moved beyond ideal single-solute conditions.
The same principle applies to process endpoints. An oil-separation material operating at thousands of litres per square metre per hour cannot be meaningfully ranked against a batch adsorbent in milligrams per Gram. Similarly, a disinfection system producing several-log microbial reduction answers a different treatment question from a membrane rejecting trace organics or a redox material converting Cr(VI) to Cr(III).
The most useful translational comparison is therefore not “which material reports the highest value?” but “what level of evidence accompanies the reported value?” Because different endpoints support different claims, the measurements required to establish contaminant fate and treatment function should be aligned explicitly, as summarized in Table 2.
TABLE 2. Claim-to-evidence alignment for interpreting contaminant fate and treatment performance.
| Claim under review | What the usual endpoint directly establishes | Evidence needed for the stronger claim | Illustrative evidence from the master documents | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adsorptive capture or immobilization | A decline in dissolved concentration and/or uptake by the solid under the reported pH, dose, concentration and contact time | Mass balance or final concentration; competition and matrix tests; post-treatment spectroscopy/speciation; desorption or stabilization evidence; and a capacity basis matched to operating conditions | A phosphonate/amino hydrogel reached equilibrium in 10 min and capacities of 211.42 mg g-1 Pb(II) and 74.29 mg g-1 Cu(II), with XPS and DFT supporting electrostatic attraction and complexation. A nanocellulose/carbon-dot/Mg(OH)2 composite distinguished Cd carbonate fixation from Cu basic-sulfate precipitation | (Sun et al., 2024; You et al., 2024) |
| Selective separation under flow | A water/contaminant split expressed through rejection or separation efficiency at the stated flux, pressure or driving force | Permeability or flux together with rejection; temporal flux decline; emulsion or feed specification; fouling and cleaning recovery; concentrate fate; and pressure or osmotic stability | A TiO2–MWCNT/cellulose aerogel achieved 99.9% separation at 7650 L m-2 h-1 for immiscible mixtures and 99.3% at 3952 L m-2 h-1 for stabilized emulsions. Reporting throughput and emulsion challenge makes this evidence more informative than efficiency alone | (Wang et al., 2024) |
| Transformation, mineralization or detoxification | Parent-compound disappearance, color loss or loss of one oxidation state; adsorption can contribute to the same apparent removal | Transformation products; mineralization or elemental/oxidation-state balance; catalyst stability; residual toxicity; and separation of adsorption from chemical conversion | The regenerated-cellulose/ZnPBA membrane produced 90.3% tetracycline removal but only 54.3% mineralization. PDA@CNC/FeS removed Cr(VI) at 837.9 mg g-1 and showed a final Cr(VI):Cr(III) ratio of 31.4:68.6, directly supporting partial detoxification rather than capture alone | (Duan et al., 2024; Yang et al., 2026) |
| Microbial inactivation or biofouling control | An inhibition zone, short-contact viability reduction or reduced initial attachment under the assay conditions | Log reduction and contact time; organism panel; regrowth or persistence; biofilm response under flow; active-agent release; dynamic flux; and treated-water safety | TiO2@CMC produced a 2.7-log reduction by 120 min, complete inactivation by 180 min at 2× the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and 87.6% biofilm inhibition. BC/MoS2 produced 6-log inactivation of E. coli and S. aureus within 5 min under the specified infrared/H2O2 conditions | (El-Lateef et al., 2024; Shen et al., 2022) |
| Resource recovery rather than removal alone | Transfer or conversion of a target from the aqueous phase; it does not establish recovery yield, purity or reuse of the recovered product | Desorption or product recovery yield; selectivity in realistic matrices; product form and purity; cycle mass balance; regenerant demand; and residual solid/liquid waste | A thiosemicarbazide-cellulose aerogel achieved 94.94% Ag(I) removal and 42.12 mg g-1 through adsorption/reduction. Cd and Pb were recovered from real wastewater using a functionalized cellulose-acetate/MnO2 composite. ZnO-Ag@cellulose reached 98.86% Te(IV) removal, maintained 94.23% adsorption efficiency in polluted environments and was reported stable over six cycles | (Liu et al., 2021b; Yakout et al., 2016; Yao et al., 2021) |
| Multifunctional treatment | Several functions are present in one material, but percentage removal values may represent different fates and test conditions | A matched endpoint for every claimed function; simultaneous or mixed-feed testing; cross-function trade-offs; active-phase retention; and evidence that one function does not disable another during reuse | A CMC/BC aerogel adsorbed dye at 484 mg g-1 with 96.80% removal in 12 h, whereas PDMS/CMC/BC took up petroleum ether at 186.03 g g-1 within 5 s. A cellulose-acetate nanofiber aerogel separated oil at above 99% and degraded carbamazepine within 20 min after peroxymonosulfate activation | (Chen et al., 2025; Tian et al., 2024) |
| Production of a treated-water stream | Productivity and measured quality of recovered water, rather than sorbent loading | Time-normalized productivity; ion and contaminant rejection; energy input; residue or concentrate management; long-term stability; and cleaning | A photothermal wood aerogel produced water at 1.89 kg m-2 h-1 with chroma 0, pH 7%–9% and 99.9% Na removal; the master summary reports no residual chromium, salts, surfactants or heavy metals in the evaporated water | (Zhu et al., 2025) |
7 Mechanistic evidence, regeneration, and durability
7.1 What constitutes convincing mechanistic evidence?
Langmuir isotherms and pseudo-second-order kinetic models are widely used across cellulose adsorption studies. They are useful descriptive tools but cannot by themselves establish monolayer adsorption or molecular chemisorption. Heterogeneous cellulose networks can simultaneously exhibit boundary-layer transfer, pore diffusion, polymer relaxation, electrostatic interactions, ligand coordination, precipitation, and redox processes.
Mechanistic confidence increases when model fitting is supported by spectroscopy, functional-group quantification, contaminant speciation, competition experiments, or computation. Phosphonate/amino systems (Sun et al., 2024), quaternized carboxy CNC (Tang et al., 2026), catechol-containing hydrogels (Zou, 2024), and PDA@CNC/FeS (Yang et al., 2026) provide examples in which chemical interpretation extends beyond a fitted kinetic curve.
Redox-active materials make this distinction especially important. In Cr(VI) treatment, capture and detoxification are not synonymous. Quantification of reduction toward Cr(III) provides stronger evidence of detoxification than disappearance of Cr(VI) from solution alone (Yang et al., 2026). Similarly, catalytic degradation should ideally distinguish parent-compound disappearance from transformation-product formation and mineralization.
Transport is also part of the mechanism. Swelling, diffusion distance, membrane resistance, and fouling can control apparent uptake or rejection even when intrinsic surface affinity is high. A mechanistic framework for cellulose treatment must therefore integrate interfacial chemistry with mass transfer rather than assigning performance entirely to binding-site identity.
7.2 Regeneration as a full treatment process
Regeneration is frequently presented as evidence of sustainability, but cycle count alone is not sufficient. A meaningful analysis asks how much capacity remains, whether the material loses mass or active phases, whether swelling or mechanical properties change, what chemicals are consumed, and where the concentrated contaminant ultimately goes.
The compiled evidence shows wide variation. Some systems retain high performance through twenty adsorption–desorption cycles, whereas others lose approximately half their initial capacity within five or ten cycles. Even a single material can regenerate differently for different pollutants, showing that “reusable” is not an intrinsic binary property.
Physical oil recovery introduces failure modes that differ from those of chemical desorption. Centrifugation or squeezing can reduce regenerant consumption but progressively damage low-density pore structures. Acid or chelator regeneration may restore adsorption sites while generating concentrated liquid waste. Responsive surface-charge reversal may provide a more controlled desorption mechanism but still requires assessment of long-term network integrity.
The contaminant- and recovery-specific durability trajectories are compared in Table 3.
TABLE 3. Regeneration trajectories expose contaminant- and recovery-dependent durability.
| System and target | Recovery or regeneration feature | Initial benchmark | Reported result after cycling | Process interpretation | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cellulose-derived magnetic carbon; methylene blue and methyl orange | Adsorption-desorption; magnetic recovery available | Removal 97.0% and 97.5%, respectively | After four cycles: 87.78% for methylene blue but 38.23% for methyl orange | The same material followed sharply different durability trajectories for two dyes; ‘reusable’ is contaminant-specific | (Chai et al., 2026) |
| Chitosan@EDTA@cellulose; methyl orange | Reuse method not specified in the master summary | Initial removal efficiency 97.8% | Efficiency declined to 81.86% after four cycles | A short reuse sequence already reveals measurable deterioration that an unqualified cycle count would conceal | (El Bourachdi et al., 2025) |
| Cotton-cellulose/PAA@laponite hydrogel; cationic dyes | Real-wastewater and fixed-bed reuse; regeneration chemistry not specified in the master summary | Approximately 95% adsorption within 5 min; capacities 2,245.7 mg g-1 crystal violet, 3,840.8 mg g-1 methylene blue and 12,160.9 mg g-1 malachite green | Removal remained above 90% after five cycles | High short-term retention is supported by real-wastewater and fixed-bed testing, although material loss and regenerant demand remain unknown | (Fang et al., 2025) |
| pH-responsive chitin/cellulose hydrogel; Acid Orange and methylene blue | pH-triggered surface-charge conversion assisted desorption | Capacities 372.0 and 140.5 mg g-1 | Removal remained at or above 95.1% after five cycles | Responsive chemistry provides a defined regeneration rationale; longer cycling is still required to establish network durability | (Jung et al., 2023) |
| MCC@CaCO3/Fe3O4; Cd(II) | Adsorption-desorption with magnetic separability | Maximum capacity 617.00 mg g-1 | More than 85% removal retained after 20 consecutive cycles | This represents a relatively long cycling demonstration within the evidence set, but retained mass, leaching, and regenerant consumption remain unreported in the master summary | (Li et al., 2026) |
| Sesbania-gum/nanocellulose aerogel; oils | Oil recovered by centrifugation | Initial uptake 39.4–72.9 g g-1 | Capacity retained at 81.8% of the initial value after 10 cycles | Physical recovery avoids a chemical desorbent in the reported operation, but cumulative structural or retention loss remains measurable | (Li et al., 2025) |
| Ionic-liquid-grafted cellulose aerogel; tetracycline and dyes | Adsorption-desorption; regenerant not specified in the master summary | Capacities 256.6 mg g-1 tetracycline, 218.7 mg g-1 methylene blue and 384.4 mg g-1 alizarin red S | More than 75% of initial capacity retained after five cycles | The trajectory indicates useful but incomplete retention; the basis should not be equated with removal-efficiency retention in other rows | (Liang et al., 2025) |
| Date-pomace bacterial nanocellulose; crystal violet and methyl orange | Reuse method not specified in the master summary | Initial capacities 4.62 ± 0.26 and 3.85 ± 0.20 mg g-1 | Approximately 52% and 48% of capacity retained after five cycles | Bio-based origin and antifouling performance did not prevent substantial adsorption-capacity loss | (Mazumder et al., 2026) |
| NH2-MIL-125/cellulose aerogel; methylene blue | Cycling method not specified in the master summary | Capacity 922.8 mg g-1, increasing to 938.1 mg g-1 at pH 9 | Removal efficiency was 83.5% after five cycles | High initial capacity coexisted with measurable cycle loss; active-phase retention was not quantified in the master summary | (Song et al., 2025) |
| Nanocellulose/alum/chitosan/PEI beads; diclofenac | Regeneration method not specified in the master summary | Maximum capacity 321.3 mg g-1; 95.4% removal in simulated river water | After five cycles, capacity was 103.7 mg g-1 and efficiency 50% | Strong initial realistic-matrix performance was offset by pronounced deterioration during reuse | (Tang et al., 2023) |
| Ion-imprinted cellulose microspheres; Co(II) | Regeneration method not specified in the master summary | Maximum capacity 158.93 mg g-1 with preferential Co(II) affinity | More than 90% of adsorption capacity retained after five cycles | Selectivity and short-term retention were demonstrated together; longer cycling and regenerant mass balance remain necessary | (Wu et al., 2024) |
| Dialdehyde-cellulose/gelatin composite; tannic acid | Reuse method not specified in the master summary | Removal 90% within 24 h; capacity 416.67 ± 3.36 mg g-1 | Removal efficiency remained above 60% after three cycles | The trajectory shows pronounced early loss despite high initial uptake; the antibacterial function does not establish retained adsorption durability | (Liu et al., 2025) |
| Alginate/CMC-melamine sponge; methylene blue | Cycling method not specified in the master summary | Theoretical maximum capacity 230 mg g-1; selectivity and anti-interference reported | Adsorption efficiency remained above 75% after five cycles | Macroscopic recovery is operationally advantageous, but retained material mass and regenerant consumption were not reported in the master summary | (Zeng et al., 2023) |
| Magnetic Harakeke-cellulose aerogel; oils | Magnetic recovery plus adsorption-squeezing cycles | Silicone-oil uptake up to 113.49 g g-1 | Approximately 50% of capacity remained after 10 cycles | Easy external-field recovery coexisted with substantial capacity loss during repeated mechanical squeezing cycles | (Zhai and Yuan, 2023) |
| Amino-rich corn-straw cellulose; Cu(II) | Regeneration method not specified in the master summary | Capacity 85.47 mg g-1; equilibrium within 180 min | Adsorption efficiency retained at 70% after five cycles | Retention at 70% after five cycles is materially different from merely reporting that five cycles were completed | (Zhu et al., 2023) |
Future regeneration studies should report retained capacity, desorption efficiency, adsorbent mass loss, structural change, ligand or nanoparticle leaching, regenerant volume and composition, contaminant recovery, and waste-regenerant treatment. Regeneration should be evaluated as a process operation rather than as a brief repeated-batch demonstration.
8 Translational readiness
Translational readiness can be evaluated as an escalation of experimental stress—from matrix complexity and flow to scale, treated-water quality, durability, and economics. Representative process-relevant tests and the confidence they add beyond optimized batch screening are summarized conceptually in Figure 6 and quantitatively in Table 4. The figure is intentionally not a numerical meta-analysis; it depicts the change in evidentiary emphasis as experiments move from idealized conditions toward authentic matrices, flow, regeneration, scale, safety, and economics.
TABLE 4. Escalation from optimized batch tests to process-relevant evidence.
| Translational stress test | Representative implementation | Quantitative outcome | Confidence added beyond routine batch screening | Residual limitation visible from the master summary | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High salinity | Amino- and sulfonic-acid-grafted cellulose for Cr(III) in leather wastewater | Maximum capacity 274.69 mg g-1; equilibrium within 10 min | Directly tests electrostatic and chelation performance in a saline industrial matrix | No long-duration flow, regeneration trajectory or process cost is reported in the master summary | (Liu et al., 2021a) |
| Real pharmaceutical wastewater | Magnetic corn-husk cellulose/Al3+–succinic-acid-linked MOF (Al-SAMOF) for methotrexate | 95% removal under optimized conditions and 93% in real wastewater; predicted capacity 147.05 mg g-1; high stability reported over seven cycles | Quantifies a small matrix penalty and adds repeated-use evidence | Flow, breakthrough and normalized treatment cost remain unreported in the master summary | (Hazrati et al., 2025) |
| Battery-manufacturing wastewater | Magnetic CMC/tea-waste-biochar/ZIF-67 aerogel for Pb(II) and Cd(II) | Optimized removal 99.06% Pb and 97.42% Cd; real-wastewater removal 93.16% and 90.96%; capacities 111.6 and 71.43 mg g-1 | Provides matched evidence for performance loss in an authentic industrial matrix | Service life, active-phase leaching and full-scale solids handling are not quantified in the master summary | (Lin et al., 2025) |
| Dynamic authentic dye wastewater | Amino-rich corn-stalk cellulose for Congo red across pH 5–10 | Amino groups 7.58 mmol g-1; capacity 5,572 mg g-1; above 98% removal within 180 min in authentic wastewater; only slight decline after five cycles | Connects ligand density, dynamic testing, authentic water and reuse in one study | The master summary does not provide long-duration throughput, breakthrough or a quantitative cycle-retention value | (Wang et al., 2023) |
| Oil-rich matrix | Self-cleaning titanate/cellulose hydrogel microspheres for Cu(II) | Underwater oil contact angle above approximately 153°; Cu(II) capacity 176.4 mg g-1 | Tests whether metal capture can coexist with an anti-oil-fouling interface | Long-duration hydraulics, emulsion challenge and fouling recovery are not given in the master summary | (Xiong et al., 2020) |
| Fixed-bed operation | Microfluidic porous alginate/CNF microspheres for Pb(II), Cu(II) and Cd(II) | Pb(II) capacity 544.66 mg g-1 at 20 °C; performance also validated in a fixed-bed column | Demonstrates deployable bead geometry and operation under flow rather than equilibrium batch testing alone | Breakthrough parameters, pressure loss and in-column regeneration are not included in the master summary | (Chen et al., 2024b) |
| Semi-pilot escalation | Radiation-grafted poly(VBSA) cellulose for Basic Red-29 in batch, columns and semi-pilot treatment | Grafting yield 25%; capacity 320 mg g-1; minimal attrition reported during repeated use | Progression from synthesis through continuous to semi-pilot treatment is reported | Longer breakthrough campaigns and normalized process economics remain unresolved | (Misra et al., 2020) |
| High-throughput filtration | Quaternized carboxy-CNC sandwich filter produced from waste cotton | Above 97% removal of dyes and metals; hydraulic resistance 62.2% of conventional filters; throughput 3.5 ton kg-1 h-1; no sludge reported | Adds throughput and hydraulic resistance to removal data, providing more information than capacity alone | Service lifetime, cleaning recovery, energy use and end-of-life behavior are absent from the master summary | (Tang et al., 2026) |
| Multi-hour drinking-water membrane operation | Combined bamboo-cellulose ultrafiltration and nanofiltration | Turbidity at or below 0.1 nephelometric turbidity unit (NTU); permanganate index (CODMn) removal 75%; ammonia-nitrogen removal 88.6%; Na2SO4 and BSA retention varied by less than 5% over 3 h; flux stabilized after an approximately 25% decline by 9 h | Couples treated-water quality with temporal rejection and flux behavior | Nine hours is insufficient to establish service life, cleaning recovery or chronic fouling | (Weng et al., 2024) |
| Integrated wastewater-reuse train | CTA and TFC forward-osmosis membranes in an osmotic membrane bioreactor (OMBR) with reverse-osmosis draw-solution regeneration | Both membrane systems removed all 30 selected trace organics; TFC had higher initial flux but a stronger flux decline and different accumulation behavior | Shows that membrane choice can alter hydraulic stability and solute fate even when final contaminant removal is high | Long-term cleaning, energy demand, concentrate handling and full mass balance are not reported in the master summary | (Zhang et al., 2017) |
| Circularity plus explicit economics | Spent-coffee-ground cellulose extraction integrated with acidic-effluent and spent-drilling-mud valorization | Cellulose yield 37.25%; COD removal 60%; adsorbent area 27.95 m2 g-1; reported costs, in United States dollars (USD), of 1.11 USD kg-1 adsorbent and 23.57 USD kg-1 cellulose | Adds process yield and unit-production costs to the waste-valorization assessment | The treatment-cost expression in the master summary (‘USD 0.021 per 1000 COD removal’) is insufficiently defined for normalized comparison | (Naghdbishi and Khorasani, 2025) |
8.1 Realistic matrices
Real-water validation remains less common than optimized laboratory testing. Complex matrices can introduce competing species, high ionic strength, oils, surfactant-stabilized emulsions, and other co-contaminants, together with variation in solution conditions. These factors can influence adsorption, interfacial interactions, wetting, separation performance, and fouling behavior (Fang et al., 2025; Lin et al., 2025; Liu J. T. et al., 2021; Liu et al., 2022; Tang et al., 2023; Wang et al., 2024; Xiong et al., 2020; Yakout et al., 2016).
A robust validation strategy should therefore quantify how performance changes as feedwater complexity increases. A material whose performance declines from optimized aqueous conditions to authentic wastewater may still be technically useful, but the magnitude of that decline is important evidence for assessing practical performance and subsequent process design (Lin et al., 2025; Tang et al., 2023; Yakout et al., 2016).
8.2 Continuous operation and hydraulics
Fixed-bed and membrane operation introduce constraints that cannot be captured by batch adsorption alone. Columns require evaluation under flow, including fixed-bed performance, material stability or attrition where relevant, and repeated operation. Membranes require evaluation of permeability or flux, rejection stability, and temporal flux decline or fouling behavior. Oil separators require assessment under defined oil or emulsion conditions together with flux, separation efficiency, fouling resistance, and mechanical or reuse cycling (Chen Y. et al., 2024; Fang et al., 2025; He et al., 2025; Misra et al., 2020; Saud et al., 2023; Wang et al., 2024; Weng et al., 2024; Zhai and Yuan, 2023; Zhang et al., 2017).
Available examples of fixed-bed, continuous, semi-pilot, forward-osmosis, ultrafiltration/nanofiltration, and multi-hour operation show that process-level testing is feasible but remains less common than equilibrium batch studies. Long-duration operation therefore remains one of the clearest areas for future improvement (Chen Y. et al., 2024; Fang et al., 2025; Misra et al., 2020; Saud et al., 2023; Weng et al., 2024; Zhang et al., 2017).
8.3 Scalability and manufacturability
Cellulose abundance should not be equated with manufacturing scalability. Many advanced systems require multiple processing steps, including cellulose extraction or chemical treatment, grafting, electrospinning, freeze-drying, carbonization and activation, framework growth, hybrid-phase incorporation, and regeneration (Lee et al., 2024; Misra et al., 2020; Naghdbishi and Khorasani, 2025; Tang et al., 2026; Tian et al., 2024).
Manufacturability should therefore be judged using synthesis yield, number of process steps, reagent and solvent requirements, energy-intensive processing where applicable, reproducibility, active-phase incorporation, module fabrication, treatment throughput, and operational lifetime. A slightly lower-performing material produced through a simpler, high-yield route may ultimately offer a stronger manufacturing proposition than an exceptionally high-capacity composite requiring numerous low-throughput steps (Misra et al., 2020; Naghdbishi and Khorasani, 2025; Tang et al., 2026).
Existing cost and scale studies help move this discussion beyond generic claims that cellulose is “low cost.” Direct comparison against powdered AC, commercial membrane contexts, semi-pilot operation, and explicit waste-valorization economics provide useful starting points, but comprehensive techno-economic analysis remains sparse across the reviewed evidence base (Fazullin et al., 2021; Misra et al., 2020; Naghdbishi and Khorasani, 2025; Sun et al., 2022).
8.4 Environmental safety
High-performing cellulose hybrids often incorporate metal oxides, sulfides, MOF materials, ZIF materials, silver, magnetic particles, photocatalysts, and other active phases. These components can provide treatment functions unavailable to native cellulose, including photocatalytic degradation, redox transformation, antimicrobial activity, antifouling behavior, and magnetic or selective recovery. Systems containing such active phases may also warrant consideration of active-phase stability or secondary release (Duan et al., 2024; He et al., 2025; Tian et al., 2024; Yang et al., 2026; Yao et al., 2021; Zhai and Yuan, 2023).
Future studies should quantify active-phase leaching or release during treatment and regeneration, treated-water effects, transformation-product identity where chemical transformation occurs, spent-material stability, and environmental consequences during disposal or recycling. Drinking-water and reuse applications require particularly strong evidence because treatment performance alone does not establish the safety of the resulting water or material system (Ayinde et al., 2022; Duan et al., 2024; El-Lateef et al., 2024; He et al., 2025; Yang et al., 2026; Zhang et al., 2017).
Multifunctional antimicrobial materials raise additional questions about active-agent release and longer-term biofouling behavior. Antibacterial activity demonstrated in short laboratory assays should not automatically be interpreted as persistent biofouling resistance during realistic treatment, particularly because the reviewed evidence range from short-duration antimicrobial assays to dynamic filtration, bacterial-colonization, and antifouling evaluations (El-Lateef et al., 2024; He et al., 2025; Mazumder et al., 2026; Shen et al., 2022; Yao et al., 2021).
8.5 Sustainability and economic feasibility
Renewable feedstock origin provides a meaningful sustainability opportunity, but it does not establish a low environmental burden by itself. Agricultural residues, spent coffee grounds, textile wastes, and other biomass feedstocks have been converted into cellulose-based treatment materials, but their processing can involve acid treatment, chemical functionalization, carbonization, activation, framework growth, electrospinning, or freeze-drying (Lee et al., 2024; Naghdbishi and Khorasani, 2025; Septevani et al., 2020; Tang et al., 2026; Tian et al., 2024).
Life-cycle assessment should therefore incorporate feedstock acquisition, cellulose isolation, modification, drying or thermal processing, hybrid-phase synthesis, regeneration, service lifetime, waste handling, and end-of-life management where these processes are relevant. Techno-economic evaluation should similarly relate material and processing cost to treatment performance, treated-water throughput, regeneration behavior, and useful service life rather than considering adsorbent mass alone (Lee et al., 2024; Misra et al., 2020; Naghdbishi and Khorasani, 2025; Sun et al., 2022; Tang et al., 2026; Tian et al., 2024; Zhai and Yuan, 2023).
9 Priorities for next-generation engineered cellulose interfaces
The next stage of the field should move beyond demonstrating that cellulose can remove contaminants and toward establishing when an engineered cellulose interface provides a measurable advantage under process-relevant conditions. Studies involving comparison with commercial membranes or activated carbon, semi-pilot treatment, and high-throughput waste-derived purification provide initial examples of this progression (Fazullin et al., 2021; Misra et al., 2020; Sun et al., 2022; Tang et al., 2026).
First, benchmarking should be endpoint-specific. Adsorption studies should report matched pH, initial concentration, dose, contact time, competing species, and realistic matrix composition. Membranes should report permeability or flux, rejection, temporal flux decline, and hydraulic behavior. Oil-separation materials should report emulsion type, flux, efficiency, cycling, and relevant mechanical or fouling behavior. Antimicrobial platforms should report organisms, exposure conditions, microbial reduction, and, where relevant, persistence or dynamic biofouling behavior (El-Lateef et al., 2024; He et al., 2025; Lin et al., 2025; Liu J. T. et al., 2021; Saud et al., 2023; Tang et al., 2023; Wang et al., 2024; Weng et al., 2024; Zhang et al., 2017).
Second, mechanistic evidence should progress beyond model fitting. Isotherms and kinetics are useful, but stronger interpretation requires supporting evidence such as post-treatment spectroscopy, functional-group analysis, contaminant speciation or transformation, competitive experiments, and computation where warranted. Examples in the reviewed evidence include XPS and density functional theory analysis of phosphonate/amino-group interactions, direct quantification of Cr(VI) reduction to Cr(III), computational analysis of metal-enrichment and precipitation pathways, and distinction between contaminant removal and measured mineralization (Duan et al., 2024; Sun et al., 2024; Yang et al., 2026; You et al., 2024).
Third, realistic-water validation should begin earlier. Simple aqueous systems remain important for controlled mechanistic studies, but promising materials should progress to high-salinity matrices, mixed contaminants, simulated natural waters, industrial wastewater, and authentic wastewater (Fang et al., 2025; Lin et al., 2025; Liu J. T. et al., 2021; Liu et al., 2022; Tang et al., 2023; Yakout et al., 2016).
Fourth, regeneration should be treated as an engineering process. Repeated removal percentages should be accompanied, where possible, by retained performance, material loss or attrition, mechanical change, active-phase stability, regenerant requirements, and contaminant recovery. The reviewed research show that reuse behavior varies markedly, from high retained performance over multiple cycles to substantial capacity loss during repeated operation (Misra et al., 2020; Tang et al., 2023; Zhai and Yuan, 2023).
Fifth, material complexity must be justified by functional necessity. Adding MOF materials, oxides, sulfides, nanocarbon, antimicrobial agents, or catalytic components is most defensible when the added phase provides a demonstrable function unavailable in a simpler architecture. Examples include antimicrobial and dynamic biofouling control, combined oil separation and pharmaceutical degradation, Cr(VI) adsorption coupled with reduction to Cr(III), high-flux emulsion separation with self-cleaning behavior, and combined tellurium recovery, antifouling, and antibacterial activity (He et al., 2025; Tian et al., 2024; Wang et al., 2024; Yang et al., 2026; Yao et al., 2021).
Finally, sustainability and economics should be quantified. Fabrication yield, processing intensity, operational lifetime, regeneration frequency, waste production, treatment throughput, and end-of-life management should contribute to determining whether a cellulose technology is genuinely competitive. Relevant quantitative examples in the literature include grafting yield and semi-pilot operation, cellulose yield and explicit production/treatment costs, economic comparison with powdered activated carbon, and functionalization yield together with high treatment throughput (Misra et al., 2020; Naghdbishi and Khorasani, 2025; Sun et al., 2022; Tang et al., 2026).
10 Conclusion
Cellulose-based remediation has developed from relatively simple biomass sorbents into a broad family of engineered interfaces capable of contaminant capture, selective separation, catalytic or redox transformation, microbial inactivation, resource recovery, and integrated water purification. The central scientific opportunity lies not in cellulose alone, but in the ability to tune chemical functionality, hydration, pore architecture, wettability, transport, mechanics, and recovery within a process-compatible structure.
Hydrogel-focused literature represents one part of the evidence synthesized here. The present Review extends beyond hydrogel architectures to multiple cellulose formats and treatment modes, showing that apparently similar removal values can represent different contaminant fates and engineering functions. Across these formats, swelling, crosslinking, adsorption chemistry, nanocomposite design, and regeneration remain important but endpoint-dependent considerations.
The collective evidence also shows why isolated maximum adsorption capacity is an inadequate measure of progress. High surface area does not guarantee high affinity; extreme swelling does not guarantee stable operation; multifunctionality does not guarantee equivalent durability for every contaminant; magnetic recovery does not guarantee regeneration stability; and renewable origin does not automatically establish low cost or sustainability.
The strongest future cellulose-remediation systems will be those that connect molecular and interfacial design with experimentally verified contaminant fate, realistic-water performance, transport stability, regeneration, safety, scalable fabrication, and quantitative economic and environmental assessment. The field provides abundant evidence that cellulose can be engineered to treat water; the more consequential question is now which engineered cellulose interfaces can deliver reliable treatment under the conditions that determine real process performance.
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Glossary
AC activated carbon AgMgOnHaP Ag–MgO–nanohydroxyapatite composite designation Al-SAMOF Al3+–succinic-acid-linked metal–organic framework designation APTES 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane BC bacterial cellulose BET Brunauer–Emmett–Teller BSA bovine serum albumin CMC carboxymethyl cellulose CNC cellulose nanocrystal CNF cellulose nanofiber COD chemical oxygen demand CODMn permanganate index CTA cellulose triacetate DFT density functional theory DNC dicarboxylic nanocellulose EDTA ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid HDTMS hexadecyltrimethoxysilane HEC hydroxyethyl cellulose LHM source-reported salt-permeability unit designation; full expansion not provided in the supplied summary LMHB liters per square meter per hour per bar; L·m-2·h-1·bar-1 MCC microcrystalline cellulose MIC minimum inhibitory concentration MOF metal–organic framework MWCNT multiwalled carbon nanotube NTU nephelometric turbidity unit OMBR osmotic membrane bioreactor PAA poly(acrylic acid) PDA polydopamine PDMS polydimethylsiloxane PEI polyethyleneimine PVP polyvinylpyrrolidone TEMPO 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl TFC thin-film composite TFN thin-film nanocomposite USD United States dollars VBSA 4-vinylbenzenesulfonic acid sodium salt XPS X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy ZIF zeolitic imidazolate framework ZnPBA zinc Prussian blue analogue
Footnotes
Edited by: Paramita Das, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal, India
Reviewed by: Jose Guillermo Torres Rendon, University of Guadalajara, Mexico
Md Nashir Uddin, Morgan State University, United States
Shikha Awasthi, Jagran Lakecity University, India
Statements
- Conflict of interest
The author(s) declared that this work was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
- Funding
The author(s) declared that financial support was not received for this work and/or its publication.
- Author contributions
HO: Conceptualization, Formal Analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Software, Supervision, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing. AA: Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Validation, Writing – review and editing. SD: Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Validation, Writing – review and editing.
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Citation
Omidian, H., et al. (2026). Engineered cellulose interfaces for water remediation: linking interfacial design, contaminant fate, and translational performance. Frontiers in Soft Matter, Volume 6. https://doi.org/
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- 6 - 2026
Copyright
Copyright © 2026 Omidian, Akhzarmehr and Dey Chowdhury.
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
*Correspondence: Hossein Omidian
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