Water-stable and eco-friendly membranes were fabricated from carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) acting as anionic adsorbent and cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) as strengthening filler by solvent- and (unidirectional) freeze-casting processes, both supported with simultaneous citric acid (CA) mediated cross-linking. Spectroscopic and potentiometric titration techniques were applied to evaluate the efficacy of the cross-linking as well as to quantify the processing-dependant surface charge. In addition, the CMC/CNF assembling and membrane porosity were identified microscopically as the combinatorial effect of components ratio and the applied fabrication technique.

The membrane’s dye adsorption capacity and kinetic were evaluated for filtration performance at optimal pH (J. Polym Env 2019, 27/2, 318-332). The resulting, freeze-casted membranes demonstrate...