Efficiency of Differently Processed Membranes Based on Cellulose as Cationic Dye Adsorbents

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Environmental Science
• Chemical Engineering

Background:

• Textile dye reuse leads to significant water pollution.
• Efficient and cost-effective wastewater treatment technologies are crucial.
• Cellulose-based materials offer a sustainable alternative for dye adsorption.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the potential of two novel cellulose-based membranes as adsorbents for cationic textile dyes.
• To compare the performance of cellulose nanofibril/carboxymethylated cellulose (CNF/CMC) membranes with bacterial cellulose (BC) and oxidized bacterial cellulose (BCox) membranes.
• To evaluate the structural, chemical, and adsorption properties of the developed membranes.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of CNF/CMC membranes via solvent casting and esterification.
• Preparation of BCox membranes through sodium periodate treatment.
• Characterization using FTIR Spectroscopy, Potentiometric Titration, Contact Angle Goniometry, CFM, and SEM.
• Adsorption experiments analyzed by UV-VIS spectroscopy.

Main Results:

• CNF/CMC membranes demonstrated ~100% removal efficiency for anthraquinone dye.
• BC and BCox membranes showed lower efficiencies (~24%) for anthraquinone dye.
• Adsorption capacity varied, with BC showing the highest for anthraquinone dye (1228 mg/g) and BCox for azo dye (445.7 mg/g).
• Pseudo second-order kinetics model was applicable for most dye-membrane combinations.

Conclusions:

• CNF/CMC membranes are highly effective adsorbents for cationic textile dyes, particularly anthraquinone dyes.
• The structural and chemical modifications significantly influence the adsorption performance of cellulose-based membranes.
• These findings highlight the potential of cellulose-based materials for sustainable textile wastewater treatment.