Textile wastewater depuration using a green cellulose based Fe3O4 bionanocomposite

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Supported iron oxide nanoparticles (NPs) on natural fiber surfaces have enormous potential in wastewater depuration strategies. We describe here the fabrication and advanced oxidation capabilities of a bionanocomposite based on cellulosic fique fibers (FF) decorated with magnetite (Fe 3 O 4 ) NPs. The composite material’s assembly was monitored using FESEM, XPS , ATR-IR, XRD , and TGA . Cellulose in FF undergoes an alkaline treatment, resulting in a heterogeneous and positively charged microstructure with channels and cavities acting as nanoreactors, facilitating size control, dispersion, and stabilization of the Fe 3 O 4 NPs via an ultrasonic-assisted co-precipitation method. The bionanocomposite material (FF/Fe 3 O 4 ) promotes color removal from indigo carmine (IC) solutions via heterogeneous Fenton-like reactions. UV–vis and MS data show the removal of up to 90% of the color in IC-spiked model aqueous samples through oxidation reactions within 5 min for up to 10 cycles. The bionanocomposite catalytic performance is significantly affected by pH and oxidant (H 2 O 2 ) concentration. In addition, after treating a real effluent from a denim factory with the FF/Fe 3 O 4 bionanocomposite for 120 min, we observed reductions of 24% in chemical oxygen demand (COD), 100% in surfactant content, 99% in true and apparent color, and 99% in turbidity.