One-pot in situ synthesis of eco-friendly cellulose magnetic nanocomposite (Cf-MNCs) for dye adsorption application

Abstract

Cellulose-based magnetic nanocomposites (Cf-MNCs) have been introduced using a modified one-pot in situ co-precipitation method using iron salts with various concentrations in the alkali solution. Fabricated nanocomposites investigated for structural and functional properties with different spectroscopic characterization techniques prior to use in dye degradation study. The scanning electron microscopy revealed the morphological structure of the synthesized nanofibers and nanocomposites. The elemental analysis and vibrating sample magnetometry emphasized the presence of Fe elements attributed to the iron salts. The HRTEM analysis showed a destructed cellulose fiber network indicating its arrangement into nanocomposites. Moreover, the crystal properties of the Cf-MNCs were accomplished using x-ray powder diffraction (79.3% crystallinity). The Fourier transform infrared analysis and differential scanning calorimetry gives the idea about the structural and functional changes in the cellulose fibers loaded with iron oxide nanoparticles. The functional adsorption properties of the prepared nanocomposites have been evaluated using methylene blue and Alizarin red S carcinogenic dyes. The dye adsorption of the fabricated Cf-MNCs nanocomposites was found to be 93%. We affirmed that this novel eco-friendly degradable polymer-based nanocomposite has great potential in the field of catalyst fabrication for the degradation of organic pollutants in wastewater.