Cellulose-based fluorescent porous membranes and their antibacterial abilities and the recognition / separation of Al3+ and Cr3+ ions

• Introducing acrylamide and 1-bromodecane enhanced the solubility of cellulose • Introducing –COOH groups onto cellulose allows for further modification. • Methacryloyl guanidine hydrochloride exhibits excellent antibacterial abilities. • Introducing coumarin fluorophores to gains recognize and separate Al 3+ /Cr 3+ . Cellulose is the most widely distributed and abundant natural polymers worldwide, and it is of great significance to enlarge its applications. In this study, cellulose-based fluorescent gel / membrane probes were developed. The probes could not only selectively recognize and remove Al 3+ / Cr 3+ , but also exhibit excellent bactericidal ability against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli). Firstly, cellulose was treated by acrylamide and 1-bromodecane. Subsequently, the coumarin fluorescent moiety was incorporated into the reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) reagent BC to form a fluorescent RAFT reagent CBC. RAFT polymerization was carried out using chain transfer agent CBC with monomers with different groups (2) -hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), methacryloyl guanidine hydrochloride (MGH)). Finally, three cellulose-based fluorescent probes (Cell-CBC-PHEMA, Cell-CBC-PMGH and Cell-CBC-PHEMA-PMGH) were synthesized by the reaction of carboxylic acid (–COOH) on cellulose with hydroxyl / amino groups on the polymer. The detection limits (LOD) for Al 3+ of Cell-CBC-PHEMA, Cell-CBC-PMGH, and Cell-CBC-PHEMA-PMGH were 0.53 nM, 0.67 nM, and 0.82 nM, respectively, and the LOD values for Cr 3+ were 0.91 nM, 0.74 nM, and 0.59 nM, respectively. This study confirmed their practical application value in identifying and removing Al 3+ / Cr 3+ . They can also be used as antimicrobial macromolecules to remove S. aureus and E. coli.