Bacterial nanocellulose/Cu-Fe-CN composite for the uptake of Cs(I) from aqueous solutions

Utilization of radioactive elements has globally increased in different fields such as energy generation, nuclear medicine, industrial activities, etc. This, in turn, increases the liberation of radioactive ions into the eco-system, indicating the necessity of developing novel strategies to eliminate these hazardous elements and restore the sustainable status of the environment. Recently, a distinctive route for treating different aqueous media with nano composites of green materials, such as bacterial nanocellulose (BNC), was reported. In this study, we introduced a novel strategy to exploit the remarkable bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) polymer to fabricate an eco-friendly composite for the uptake of the radioactive Cs(I) ions from aqueous solutions through the capturing capability of copper ferrocyanide (Cu-Fe-CN or Cu-FC). BNC was treated to graft Cu-FC throughout all the biopolymer nanofibers. Afterward, the resulting composite (bacterial nanocellulose/copper ferrocyanide: BNC/Cu-FC) underwent a characterization scheme through FTIR, SEM, TGA, XRD, TEM-EDS and EDX. Different parameters that influence the sorption efficiency of Cs(I) were investigated by a batch process to estimate the favorable sorption conditions. The results of the kinetics experiments showed that the pseudo-second-order kinetic model adequately described the sorption process. According to the studied sorption isotherm, Cs(I) has a maximum sorption capacity of 160.51 mg/g from aqueous solutions under the best conditions. The results of the thermodynamic analysis demonstrate that the sorption of Cs(I) onto BNC/Cu-FC was endothermic and spontaneous. Additionally, the selectivity, adsorption mechanism, desorption study, and continuous-flow system removal were carried out.