Green modification of cellulosic paper and the evaluation of its catalytic activity, antimicrobial efficiency, and oil-water separation performance.

Cellulosic paper, a type of biomass material, demonstrates considerable promise for application in wastewater treatment, which is attributed to the abundant hydroxyl groups within its structure, as well as its notable advantages of being renewable, biodegradable, recyclable and cost-effective. In this study, a simple and green approach was reported to fabricate a multifunctional cellulosic paper using self-polymerized polydopamine (PDA) as a functional platform. The presence of numerous reactive functional groups in PDA impart the cellulosic paper (CP-PDA) with the potential for further functional modification. Silver (Ag) nanoparticles were in-situ incorporated onto the surface of cellulosic paper (CP-PDA-Ag) through an impregnation-precipitation method. CP-PDA-Ag exhibited exceptional catalytic performance in eliminating various dyes and showed significant antibacterial efficacy against a broad spectrum of viable microorganisms. The further modification of CP-PDA through a simple immersion technique with low-surface-energy candelilla wax (CW) granted the paper with excellent superhydrophobic characteristics. The CP-PDA-CW demonstrated outstanding separation capabilities for oil-water mixtures. Additionally, the CP-PDA-CW exhibited robust stability under a variety of severe mechanical, environmental, and chemical conditions. This study explored the possibilities of using self-polymerized PDA coating as a functionally modified platform for fabricating multifunctional paper designed for the remediation of polluted water involving complex components.