Cellulose aerogels (CA) have been used in widespread areas, such as absorbents, thermal insulation material and medical material. However, the week hydrogen bonding between cellulose nanofibers making the cellulose aerogels with the poor mechanical properties and easy destroy under the water. Herein, a robust strategy to fabricate cellulose aerogels by combining cellulose nanofibers with PVA “glue”. The CA not only had a robust chemical-bond cross-link network, but also had strong H-bond, which enhanced underwater mechanical properties. Moreover, the compressible CA provided a large number of nucleation sites for the growth of Metal-organic frame (MOF) nanoparticles (ZIF-67 and ZIF-8) through interface self-assemble, which enabled MOF nanoparticles to grow closely on the surface of the CA. The obtained aerogels with a low density of 9.8-11.2 mg cm^-3 and highly porous of 99.1-99.5% possess excellent mechanical properties both in air and underwater. Moreover, the adsorption capacities of the MOF@CA for Pb²⁺ and Cu²⁺ is up to 105 mg g^-1 and 54.78 mg g^-1, respectively. The novel MOF@CA adsorbent displays excellent application prospect in the removal of heavy metals from wastewater.

cellulose, aerogels, MOF, adsorption