Fabrication of Cerium Titanate Cellulose Fiber Nanocomposite Materials for the Removal of Methyl Orange and Methylene Blue from Polluted Water by Photocatalytic Degradation

Abstract

Green synthesis is anenvironmentally responsible, simple, and emerging approach to nanoparticle synthesis (NPs) and currently attracts researchersworldwide. In this study, a novel (cerium titanate (Ce-Ti) and cellulose fiber (Cf) nanocomposite photocatalyst) was successfully fabricated using a crosslinking reaction between cellulose fiber (Cf) and a different molar ratio of cerium titanate (Ce-Ti) nanoparticles. The Cf and Ce-Ti NPs were prepared from sunflower seed husk and its extract, respectively, through a green biosynthesis approach.Using Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM-EDX), all fabricated nanocomposites were characterized. Results obtained from the FT-IR and EDX analyses indicated that Cf, and its composites (0.1 Ce-Ti/Cf, 0.3 Ce-Ti/Cf, and 0.5 Ce-Ti/Cf) were prepared successfully using harnessing the biomass filtrate of sunflower seed husk.Furthermore, XRD revealed that/ the degree of crystallinity of the nanocomposites increased with the increasing molar ratios of the Ce-Ti NPs. Additionally,the photocatalytic activity of 0.1 Ce-Ti/Cf, 0.3 Ce-Ti/Cf, and 0.5 Ce-Ti/Cf nanocomposite samples in the presence and absence of hydrogen peroxide were accomplished for methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange(MO) dyes. In addition, high photodegradation efficiency was obtained by increasing the ratio of TiO2 in Ce-Ti in the nanocomposite formula; the % degradation of methylene blue dye (MB) and methyl orange (MO) using 0.5 Ce-Ti/Cf nanocomposite photocatalyst in the absence of hydrogen peroxide was 95.4 and 92.7% after 300 min, respectively. Nevertheless, with hydrogen peroxide, the % degradation was 98.9% and 94% after 120 min, respectively, after sunlight irradiation. Therefore, 0.1 Ce-Ti/Cf, 0.3 Ce-Ti/Cf, and 0.5 Ce-Ti/Cf nanocomposite photocatalyst can be viewed as a promising material for dye wastewater treatment because of its good photocatalytic activity. Moreover, the fabricated nanocomposite photocatalyst acts as a promising applicant in treating wastewater collected from Egypt.