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[Display omitted] • SA/PEI-0.25 aerogel showed high elastic, stability and adsorption performance. • The maximum adsorption capacities of Cr(VI) and Cd(II) were 678.67 and 464.23 mg/g. • The fixed-bed continuous filtration of Cr(VI) and Cd(II) wastewater was realized. • SA/PEI-0.25 aerogel reduced the toxicity of heavy metal ions to rice. • The adsorption mechanisms of Cr(VI) and Cd(II) were investigated. Herein, an elastic polyethyleneimine/sodium alginate aerogel was designed by a one-step freeze-drying method. The 3D honeycomb-like structure endowed it excellent compressibility and plentiful exposed adsorption sites to accelerate Cr(VI) and Cd(II) adsorption. The adsorption processes matched the pseudo-second-order and Langmuir models, and the saturated adsorption capacity for Cr(VI) and Cd(II) was 678.67 and 464.23 mg/g, respectively. The obtained aerogel still expressed superior removal performance for Cr(VI) and Cd(II) even in the coexistent of multiple interfering factors and maintained stable adsorption capacity at least after 5 cycles. Importantly, the elastic cylindrical aerogel (∼0.59 g) could achieve dynamic filtration of industrial wastewater containing Cr(VI) and Cd(II) in fix-bed column system with corresponding effective treatment volume of 4.47 and 3.25 L, respectively. The reasonable mechanisms for the adsorption behaviors of heavy metals on the as-prepared aerogel was investigated via FTIR, XPS and Density functional theory (DFT), which could be attributed to the surface electrostatic adsorption, chelation and reduction effects. Eventually, the ecological assessment verified that eco-friendly SA/PEI aerogel had a powerful auxiliary effect on the anti-fouling growth of rice. Overall, such novel biomass aerogel adsorbent possessed great application potential and theoretical guiding significance for the purification of heavy metal wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A functionalized carboxymethyl chitosan aerogel is explored for Cu(Ⅱ) adsorption. • The maximum capacity of PCCSA-1.0 for absorbing Cu(Ⅱ) is 175.56 mg/g. • Continuous filtration of industrial wastewater with fixed bed columns is achieved. • PCCSA-1.0 is conducive to inhibit the enrichment of Cu(Ⅱ) ions in rice. • The generated waste after adsorption is converted into a material for secondary use. Copper ions (Cu(II)) in water pose a huge threat to human health and ecosystem security. Therefore, developing eco-friendly and sustainable strategies to eliminate the toxicity risk of Cu(II) in the aqueous environment remains a great challenge. In this work, an elastic polyethyleneimine-modified carboxymethyl chitosan aerogel was developed via a freeze-drying process for the adsorption of Cu(II). The adsorption kinetic and isotherm experiments demonstrated that the adsorption process was monolayer chemisorption and the maximum adsorption capacity calculated from Langmuir model was 175.56 mg g−1. The obtained aerogels exhibited preferential selectivity for Cu(II) even when the competing cations and organics existed. Besides, about 0.93 g of aerogel realized continuous fixed-bed column filtration of industrial wastewater with an effective purification volume of 4.14 L. Mechanistic analysis via FTIR and XPS revealed that the excellent adsorption performance for Cu(II) might be attributed to the strong electrostatic force, Vander Waals' force and coordination of N/O -containing functional groups. It is worth mentioning that the adsorbed Cu(II) ions in the aerogel were converted into a reusable photocatalyst, avoiding the secondary leakage of heavy metals. This work opened a door to synthesize carboxymethyl chitosan aerogel, promising for heavy metal wastewater treatment and realizing the concept of waste utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]