Novel Functionalized Cellulose Derivatives Fabricated with Cu Nanoparticle: Synthesis, Characterization and Degradation of Organic Pollutants
Abstract In this study, microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) was modified to oxidized cellulose (OC), 6-deoxycellulose hydrazide and 6-deoxycellulose(N,N-diethyl)amine (MCC-Hyd and MCC-DEM) derivatives and employed as supporting material for the synthesis of copper nanoparticles (NPs). Copper ions from aqueous solution were adsorbed and then reduced to zero valent copper (ZVC) NPs using sodium borohydride on films of prepared derivatives. The characterization of prepared derivatives and Cu NPs embedded films was performed using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Elemental analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Ultraviolet/Visible (UV-VIS) spectroscopy was performed for the degradation studies of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) and various azo dyes viz. Congo Red (CR), Methylene Blue (MB), and Methyl orange (MO). Results revealed that all the films showed degradation only in the presence of ZVC NPs. Oxidized cellulose, MCC-Hyd and MCC-DEM showed excellent degradation efficiencies (> 85%) in all the cases. Our findings revealed that MCC derivatives could be efficient and renewable candidates for removal of water pollutants in future.