title: A hierarchically porous cellulose monolith: A template-free fabricated, morphology-tunable, and easily functionalizable platform.
abstract: Recently, monoliths with continuous porous structure have received much attention for high-performance separation/adsorption matrix in biomedical and environmental fields. This study proposes a novel route to prepare cellulose monoliths with hierarchically porous structure by selecting cellulose acetate (CA) as the starting material. Thermally induced phase separation of CA solution using a mixed solvent affords a CA monolith, which is converted into the cellulose monolith by alkaline hydrolysis. Scanning electron microscopy images of the CA and cellulose monoliths reveal a continuous macropore with rough surface, and nitrogen adsorption/desorption analysis indicates the formation of a mesoporous structure. The macroporous structure could be controlled by changing the fabrication parameters. A series of reactive groups are introduced by chemical modifications on the surface of the cellulose monolith. The facile and diverse modifiability combined with its hydrophilic property make the hierarchically porous cellulose monolith a potential platform for use in separation, purification and bio-related applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, Suita 565-0871, Japan; School of Pharmacy, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, China.
authors.forename: Yuanrong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xin
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Natural Functional Molecule Chemistry of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Northwest University, Xi'an 710127, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Qiancheng
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Natural Functional Molecule Chemistry of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Northwest University, Xi'an 710127, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Qiuhong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, Suita 565-0871, Japan.
authors.forename: Miwa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miyamoto
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Natural Functional Molecule Chemistry of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Northwest University, Xi'an 710127, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Cong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Natural Functional Molecule Chemistry of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Northwest University, Xi'an 710127, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Yehua
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, Suita 565-0871, Japan; Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Natural Functional Molecule Chemistry of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Northwest University, Xi'an 710127, Shaanxi Province, China. Electronic address: uyama@chem.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Uyama
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D002482:Cellulose / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000737:chemistry; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D016062:Porosity
chemical_list: C005062:acetylcellulose; D002482:Cellulose
keywords: Cellulose; Hierarchical structure; Monolith; Thermally induced phase separation; Tunable porous morphology