Facile synthesis and in situ magnetization of carbon‐decorated lignocellulose fiber for highly efficient removal of methylene blue

BACKGROUND Magnetic adsorption is currently a popular way to remove chemical pollutants from water. The present work reported highly efficient removal of methylene blue (MB) by magnetically retrievable carbon‐decorated lignocellulose fiber (mC@LCF). RESULTS Carbon‐decorated lignocellulose fiber (C@LCF) was successfully synthesized via the hydrothermal carbonization process using a low‐cost and environment‐friendly lignocellulose fiber (LCF) as raw material. Further, the C@LCF was in situ magnetized by simply adding it and magnetic nanoparticle (MNP) into methylene blue (MB) solution taking advantage of the spontaneous behavior of MNP adherence to the surface of C@LCF. During this period, MB was efficiently removed, and the maximum removal capacity was 232.3 mg g−1 at 303.15 K. Kinetic and thermodynamic investigations as well as isotherm analysis were also undertaken. Reusability of mC@LCF was evaluated, and results showed that removal of MB exceeded 90% after seven consecutive cycles. CONCLUSIONS The mC@LCF has obvious advantages including ease of production, low production costs, environmental friendliness, magnetic retrievability, and high efficiency for MB adsorption. Thus mC@LCF is a promising adsorbent for the purification of dye‐containing wastewater.