Cellulose acetate composite films fabricated with zero‐valent iron nanoparticles and its use in the degradation of persistent organic pollutants

Cellulose acetate (CA), and CA blended with Nicotiana tabacum ash (ACA) membranes have synthesized and fabricated with zero‐valent Fe NPs (ZVI) and named as CA@Fe 0 and ACA@Fe 0 . The as‐synthesized membranes were inspected for the removal and detoxification of toxic organic pollutants. Comparative studies of CA@Fe 0 and ACA@Fe 0 NPs were investigated for five model pollutants, such as 4‐nitrophenol (4NP), methyl orange (MO), Congo red (CR), methylene blue (MB), and bromocresol green (BCG). The kinetic model indicated that the apparent rate constant K app value of ACA@Fe 0 was highest for all model pollutants compared to CA@Fe 0 NPs. The K app value is derived from pseudo‐first‐order kinetics. The K app value of MO discoloration was 8.17 × 10 −1 min −1 with ACA@Fe 0 which is highest than CA@Fe 0 (3.08 × 10 −1 min −1 ). The turnover frequency (TOF) was highest for ACA@Fe 0 for all the pollutants compared to CA@Fe 0 and the highest TOF value was found for CR dye with ACA@Fe 0 which is 0.523 h −1 . Both the membranes also showed promising antibacterial activity against Salmonella typhi. Furthermore, CA, ACA membrane and CA@Fe 0 and ACA@Fe 0 NPs were characterized through FESEM, EDS, XRD, FTIR and TGA analysis.