A series of Bi2WO6/TiO2-nanotube (Bi2WO6/TiO2-NT) heterostructured composites were prepared by utilizing natural cellulose (e.g., laboratory filter paper) as the structural template. The obtained nanoarchitectonics, namely Bi2WO6/TiO2-NT nanocomposites, displayed three-dimensionally interwoven structures which replicated the initial cellulose template. The composite Bi2WO6/TiO2-NT nanotubes were formed by TiO2 nanotubes that uniformly anchored with Bi2WO6 nanoparticles of various densities on the surface. The composites exhibited improved photocatalytic activities toward the reduction of Cr(VI) and degradation of rhodamine B under visible light (λ > 420 nm), which were attributed to the uniform anchoring of Bi2WO6 nanoparticles on TiO2 nanotubes, as well as strong mutual effects and well-proportioned formation of heterostructures in between the Bi2WO6 and TiO2 phases. These improvements arose from the cellulose-derived unique structures, leading to an enhanced absorption of visible light together with an accelerated separation and transfer of the photogenerated electron–hole pairs of the nanocomposites, which resulted in increased effective amounts of photogenerated carriers for the photocatalytic reactions. It was demonstrated that the photoinduced electrons dominated the photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI), while hydroxyl radicals and reactive holes contributed to the photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B.

A cellulose‐based photocatalytic membrane was fabricated by in situ growth of the NH2‐MIL‐125 nanoparticles onto the surfaces of the ultrathin titania (TiO2) gel layers pre‐coated cellulose nanofibres of natural cellulose substance (commercial laboratory filter paper). The NH2‐MIL‐125 nanoparticles were grown on the surface of the titania gel coated cellulose nanofibres via a one‐step solvothermal method. The resultant composite membranes maintained the initial hierarchical network structures of the bulk cellulose substance, consisting titania gel layer coated cellulose nanofibres with NH2‐MIL‐125 nanoparticles anchored on the surfaces. Owing to the hierarchical porous structure of the cellulose substrates as well as the effective heterostructure formation between the NH2‐MIL‐125 particles and the TiO2 layers, the composites showed enhanced photocatalytic performances. The NH2‐MIL‐125/TiO2/cellulose composite composed of 15.82 wt% NH2‐MIL‐125 content with nanoparticles sizes of 100–200 nm showed an apparent rate constant of 0.032 min−1 in photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB), which was higher than those of the NH2‐MIL‐125/cellulose composite and the TiO2/cellulose composite. It was demonstrated that pre‐coating of the cellulose nanofibres with ultrathin titania gel layers was essential for the growth of the NH2‐MIL‐125 nanoparticles thereon.