A simple and novel method, self-assembly of nanocellulose and nanochitin, was developed to produce high-efficiency and versatile biohybrid hydrogel (BHH) and aerogel (BHA) for water purification. The self-assembly process was driven by the electrostatic force between one-dimensional (1D) negatively charged TEMPOoxidized cellulose nanofiber (TOCNF) and positively charged partly deacetylated chitin nanofiber (PDChNF). The self-assembly process was performed at room temperature and without adding any crosslinking agents throughout the process. This results in the threedimensional (3D) BHH that physically cross-linked via both electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonding between TOCNF and PDChNF. The obtained BHA from lyophilized BHH exhibited a highly porous interconnected structure with a specific surface area of 54 m 2 •g −1 , which assures the availability of its internal active site for the adsorption of toxic metalloid ions and organic pollutants. Consequently, the BHA displayed super-high adsorption capacities of 217 mg•g −1 for As(III) under the neutral pH conditions and 531 mg•g −1 for methylene blue (MB) under an alkaline aqueous condition with rapid adsorption kinetics, in sharp contrast to conventional biobased adsorbents. Moreover, the BHA is reusable, which still exhibited a high MB adsorption capacity of 505 mg•g −1 even after five successive adsorption−desorption cycles. This versatile BHA produced via a facile preparation strategy is proven to be a promising renewable adsorbent for water purification, offering simple and green alternatives to the conventional adsorbent from synthetic polymers.

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2,5-Bis(hydroxymethyl)furan (BHMF) produced from 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) plays a significant role in the production of resins, fibers, foams, drugs, polymers, ketones and ethers. In this study, a novel cost-effective copper iron magnetic bimetallic nanocatalyst supported on activated carbon (CuO−Fe 3 O 4 /AC) was developed for the selective hydrogenation of HMF into BHMF via Meerwein−Ponndorf−Verley (MPV) reaction using ethanol as a hydrogen donor. Various analytical techniques such as HRTEM-EDX, TGA, ICP-OES, XRD, H 2 -TPR, XPS, and nitrogen adsorption−desorption isotherms (BET and BJH methods) were used to characterize the prepared catalyst. Reaction parameters affecting the selectivity of BHMF such as catalyst concentration, temperature, and time were studied. Kinetic study indicated a pseudo-first order reaction with a significant high rate constant of BHMF formation compared with the formation rate constants of MF, MFA, and DMF byproducts. At the optimum reaction conditions, 94.8% of BHMF selectivity and 97.5% conversion were obtained in ethanol over 1:1 (w/w), HMF/Catalyst, at 150 °C for 5 h. The recycling experiments revealed that the catalyst maintained its high catalytic activity after five runs.