Microwave/ultrasonic powered in-liquid plasma-assisted synthesis of 3D-hierarchical nanoporous network wheat-straw lignin/thiadiazole amide-modified cellulose sponge composite for oil-in-water emulsion separation and microbiological disinfection.

Innovative super-hydrophilic/superoleophobic eco-friendly sponge composite is fabricated by integrating chemically-modified cellulose with lignin derived from bio-waste wheat-straw. Such combination is implemented by modifying cellulose with thiadiazole-amide and integrating it with lignin using microwave/ultrasonic-powered in-liquid plasma. Physicochemical characteristics of sponge-composite (WL-TDAC) are studied using FTIR, N2-physisorption, DLS, SEM, chemical-computational analysis, and surface wettability. In-liquid plasma irradiations inspire formation of abundant hydrogen bonds between cellulose and lignin, constructing highly negatively-charged sponge (ζAv = -36 eV) of developed surface character and 3D-hierarchical interconnected porous structure with a pore-size of ~2 nm. Sponge-composite displays underwater-oil-contact angles of 124° and 164.8° for n-hexane/water and dichloromethane/water mixtures, respectively, with water-contact-angle near 0°. Superhydrophilic-superoleophobic sponge powerfully separates light-oil/water and heavy-oil/water mixtures yielding water-permeation-fluxes of 8812.5 and 7500 L/m2/h, respectively, keeping separation-efficiencies >96 % for ten-cycles. Sponge-composite is a gorgeous disinfectant against hazardous bacteria/fungi. Cellulose-based lignin sponge seeds as promissory futuristic oil-in-water emulsion antimicrobial separator features for cleaning wastewater from oils and noxious microorganisms.