Abstract: The development of petrochemical, textile industry, steel and other industries has produced oily wastewater that has seriously damaged the eco-logical environment of humans and has aggravated the shortage of water resources. How to effectively separate oil-water mixture has become a current research hotspot under the global consensus of carbon peaking and carbon neutral. The special infiltrating nanocellulose-based aerogel has the characteristics of different infiltration to oil and water phases and has high efficiency of oil-water separation, so it has a broad application prospect in the field of oil-water separation. This article systematically summarized several infiltration models and basic action mechanisms, focusing on detailed analysis of nanocellulose-based aerogels in oil-water separation field and preparation process. Finally, the existing problems of special infiltrating nanocellulose-based aerogels are discussed with looking forward to their future development.