**Lili Ren 1, Zhihui Yang 1,2, Lei Huang <sup>1</sup> , Yingjie He 1, Haiying Wang 1,2,\* and Liyuan Zhang 3,4,\***


Received: 4 March 2020; Accepted: 17 March 2020; Published: 23 March 2020

**Abstract:** Here, a nanofiber-exfoliated bacteria cellulose aerogel with improved water affinity and high mass transfer was synthesized. Consequently, poly Schiff base can be uniformly coated within the body of bacteria cellulose aerogel without the traditional dispersion treatment. The composite aerogel has adequate mechanical and thermal stability and high mass transfer efficiency. Such an aerogel can serve as a superior adsorbent for flow through adsorption of pollution. Typically, the adsorption capacity towards Cr(VI), Cu(II), Re(VII), Conga red, and Orange G reaches as high as 321.5, 256.4, 153.8, 333.3, and 370.3 mg g−1, respectively. Moreover, the adsorption by this composite aerogel is very fast, such that, for example, at just 2 s, the adsorption is almost finished with Cr(VI) adsorption. Moreover, the composite aerogel exhibits a good adsorption-desorption capability. This research will hopefully shed light on the preparation of bacteria cellulose-derived macroscopic materials powerful in not only environmental areas, but also other related applications.

**Keywords:** bacteria cellulose; poly Schiff base; chromium; adsorption
