Fabrication of Nanocellulose Membranes from Freshwater Green Algae (Chara corallina) and their Application in Removing Bacteria from Water

Nanomaterials are one of the new technological developments that have attracted the attention of many scientists.Using these materials on a large scale can lead to many advanced features.Due to its exceptional properties, a nanocellulose material known as cellulose nanocrystalline (CNC) is currently receiving attention.Nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) was prepared from Chara corallina algae by ball milling, followed by ultrasonic treatment.Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), Xray diffraction (XRD), and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) were used to characterize nanocellulose.The BET calculation model determined the specific surface areas of the samples (milling and ultrasonic treatment) and found that they were 5.79 m 2 /g and 6.37 m 2 /g, respectively.This suggests that augmenting the carboxyl content is beneficial for producing beads with a cellulose nanonetwork structure and a larger surface area.Vacuum filtration was applied to several layers of nanocellulose membrane filters to evaluate the removal efficiency of five bacterial species from water.The results showed high efficiency in removing Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Escherichia coli at 99. 33, 98.47, 98.41, 97.11, and 93.81%, respectively.Due to their low cost, simple preparation, and sustainable materials, algae-extracted CNC filter papers show bright future possibilities and potential applications in many fields, especially in microorganism elimination, water purification, and sustainable materials.It is expected to be fully used in many industries soon.