Natural phenolics and flavonoids modified the hierarchical cellular cellulose sponges for efficient water...

Disinfecting microbially contaminated water in a safe and sustainable way is a great challenge. The phenolics and flavonoids in plants are ideal antibacterial agents for biosafety. Herein, an all-plant-derived antibacterial sponge with a hierarchical cellular structure was prepared from natural phenolic and flavonoid crude extracts and cellulose for water purification. After being modified by quercetin, the quercetin-cellulose sponge (Q-CS) exhibits great toughness, elasticity and a large specific surface area, which benefited from a unique hierarchical cellular structure. Q-CS shows ultrahigh water flux (4.5 × 10⁵ L·m^-2·h^-1·bar^-1) and excellent antibacterial abilities against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus (<1.87 % viability). Sponges modified with crude pyrola (P-CS) and mulberry leaf extracts (M-CS) have similar properties compared with Q-CS. The good performances of P-CS and M-CS show the strong antibacterial applications of natural crude extract. This work provides a strategy for fabricating sustainable and safe antibacterial sponges for water disinfection.