Abstract: Citric acid carbon dots(CDs) were prepared by a one-step hydrothermal method using citric acid as carbon source. The afterglow aerogel CDs@CNF was prepared by doping CDs into cellulose nanofibers(CNF) after physical cross-linking. The red afterglow aerogel CDs-RhB@CNF was prepared by triplet-to-singlet Förster resonance energy transfer(TS-FRET) strategy using CDs as donor and rhodamine B(RhB) as acceptor. The photophysical properties and microstructure of the aerogel were characterized by scanning electron microscopy(SEM), transmission electron microscopy(TEM), ultraviolet-visible(UV-Vis) absorption spectrum, steady-state transient fluorescence spectroscopy and International Commission on Illumination(CIE) chromatograms. The results showed that, the phosphorescence lifetime of CDs@CNF at 535 nm was 144.88 ms, the CDs were uniformly distributed in the CNF aerogel, which had a honeycomb porous structure. The phosphorescence lifetime of CDs-RhB@CNF at 600 nm was 102.49 ms, and the Förster transfer efficiency was up to 65.9%. The yellow afterglow aerogel CDs-Rh6G@CNF and CDs-Rh123@CNF were obtained by doping rhodamine 6G(Rh6G) and rhodamine 123(Rh123) with fluorescent dyes, and the aerogel-loaded phosphorescent paper was further applied in the field of aesthetic origami and advanced anti-counterfeiting, extending the strategy and application area of preparing multicolor afterglow materials from natural biomass.