Bioinspired Hydrophobicity via Temperature-Induced Phase Separation of Beeswax: A Pathway for Developing Cellulose Nanofiber-Based Adsorbents for the Removal of Conventional Tetracycline Tablets.

Cellulose nanofiber-based aerogels (CNFAs) hold immense promise across diverse fields, but their innate hydrophilicity and structural fragility in water have constrained their utility in water purification. This study introduces a green approach to induce hydrophobicity into CNFAs via thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) of beeswax, which was adhered to the nanofiber by hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic-hydrophobic interactions. The fabricated aerogel was characterized by using FTIR, SEM, XRD, TGA, contact angle, BET, and compression test.