Filament-woven SF/PA gel for removing ultrafine nanoparticles and unmanageable hazardous pollutants by "all-in-one...

The current state of the world's water resources is facing serious challenges, and the current water purification processes are designed for a single, more specific contaminant, with more stringent constraints, which are not suitable for emergency water treatment in stochastic environment and may cause secondary pollution. It is necessary to provide a water purification method that is convenient, easy-to-operate, one-step treatment of multiple pollutants. Herein, silk fibroin (SF) that extracted from discarded silkworm cocoons and recycled silk and phytic acid (PA) are "woven" into a network structure through hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interaction to form a unique gel, which could be used to remove different pollutants by "sweeping and catching" and physical adsorption. SF/PA gels have been demonstrated to adsorb more than 99.9% of ultrafine nanoparticles in water, and many unmanageable hazardous pollutants can also be removed by "All-in-one Net", including bacteria, polystyrene microsphere, insoluble antibiotics and pesticides. In addition, SF/PA gel from waste resources can not only achieve the purpose of treating waste with waste, but also the products after removal of pollutants can be reused as biochar-based fertilizer to improve the soil environment. This process established a sustainable closed-loop system without secondary pollution, providing an excellent scheme for the sustainable use of resources.