Eco-friendly sorbent of bacterial cellulose/metal–organic framework composite membrane for effective bisphenol a removal

Environmental hormones such as bisphenol A have attracted enormous attention due to their potential threat to humans and environment. Herein, we synthesized a BC/MIL-53 (Al)-F127 composite membrane by the vacuum filtration method with a mesostructure metal–organic framework MIL-53 (Al)-F127 and bacterial cellulose as the substrate. The BC/MIL-53 (Al)-F127 composite membrane exhibited efficient adsorption of bisphenol A in aqueous solution. The results exhibited that 94% of bisphenol A could be adsorbed in approximately 120 min, and the equilibrium sorption amounts of bisphenol A reached approximately 8.3 mg/g. Meanwhile, the mechanism of adsorption was explored. The optimum pH and temperature for the adsorption of bisphenol A were 6 and 40°C, respectively. The removal efficiency of bisphenol A was maintained at 90% after five repeated cycles, indicating the advantage to separate freely without a complex filtration system. The results of adsorption indicated that the BC/MIL-53 (Al)-F127 membrane has great potential in the aspect of the sewage treatment as a prospective sorbent.