One-pot preparation of amine-rich magnetite/bacterial cellulose nanocomposite and its application for arsenate removal

Surface functionalization of bacterial cellulose (BC) nanofibrils with aminated magnetite nanoparticles (MH) was carried out by one-pot solvothermal reaction of 1,6-hexanediamine, FeCl3·6H2O and BC pellicle in ethylene glycol at 200 °C for 6 h. The presence of amine surface-functionalized magnetite nanoparticles on the surface of cellulose nanofibrils not only significantly enhanced the thermal and mechanical properties but also the amine content of the nanostructured bacterial cellulose pellicle. Approximately 10.5 mmol g−1 of amine was measured in the aminated magnetite-BC nanocomposite (BC@MH) which is about 14.3 fold higher than its counterpart (MH) prepared in the absence of BC pellicle. The never-dried BC@MH nanocomposite demonstrated a high adsorption capacity towards As(V) ions because of its high iron-oxide and amine content. Approximately 90 mg of As(V) can be adsorbed per gram of BC@MH.