Wrapping Nanocellulose Nets around Graphene Oxide Sheets

Abstract

Constructing advanced functional nanomaterials with pre-designed organized morphologies from low-dimension synthetic and biological components is challenging. Herein, we report an efficient and universal amphiphilicity-driven assembly strategy to construct "hairy" flexible hybrid nanosheets with a 1D cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) net conformally wrapped around 2D graphene oxide (GO) monolayers. This interface-driven bio-synthetic assembly is facilitated by tailoring the surface chemistry of flexible GO sheets, resulting in individual sheets tightly surrounded by dense conformal nanocellulose network. The mechanical stability of the products far exceeds the compressive instability limits of both individual components. Additionally, the CNF network significantly enhances the wetting ability of initial hydrophobic reduced GO nanosheets, allowing fast water transport combined with high filtration efficiency.