Wei Shang, Kevin Pan, Gaofeng Pan, Jiajing Liu
ABSTRACT This study aims to develop an amino‐functionalized cellulose‐based aerogel, cellulose‐chitosan composite aerogel (CCA), for efficient adsorption of indoor formaldehyde to improve indoor air quality. Using wood powder and chitosan as raw materials and an aqueous lithium bromide solution as the solvent, a porous CCA was successfully created. Characterization techniques, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), were used to confirm the successful incorporation of chitosan into the cellulose aerogel (CA) and the formation of a well‐developed porous structure. Experimental results revealed that increasing chitosan content effectively enhanced the specific surface area and amino group content of the composite aerogel, thereby improving its formaldehyde adsorption capacity. Sample CCA‐2 exhibited a 6.8‐fold increase in specific surface area and a 13‐fold expansion in mesopore volume compared with the pure CA. Under the condition that the initial concentration of formaldehyde was 8 mg/m 3 , the formaldehyde removal rate of CCA‐2 reached 98.00% and the maximum adsorption capacity was 15.680 mg/g, which was 5.69 times higher than the adsorption capacity of CA. Adsorption kinetic studies indicated that the formaldehyde adsorption process followed the pseudo‐second‐order kinetic model, suggesting a synergistic mechanism involving both physical and chemical adsorption. This work provides a novel strategy for designing efficient and low‐cost materials for indoor formaldehyde removal, demonstrating promising application potential.