Bionanocomposite MIL-100(Fe)/Cellulose as a high-performance adsorbent for adsorption of methylene blue

Abstract

Abstract Water refining treatment consisted to eliminate organic matter and improve the organoleptic qualities of the water (flavor, smell, clarity). There are different methods for removal of pollutants which among them, the adsorption process has been expanded due to its easiness and high efficiency. The development of innovative porous materials is therefore of primary importance for the treatment of effluents. Dyes are important source of pollution once discharged into the environment. World production of dyes is estimated at more than 800,000 t•yr− 1. The purpose of this research falls within the scope of the choice of an effective, local and inexpensive adsorbent to remove dyes from waste water. Adsorptive elimination of dyes by commonly accessible adsorbents is inefficient. The metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are important class of porous materials offering exceptional properties as adsorbents by improving separation efficiency compared to existing commercial adsorbents. However, its powder form limits its applications. One way to overcome this problem is to trap them in a flexible matrix to form a hierarchical porous composite. Therefore, in this work, we prepared MIL-100 (Fe) embedded in cellulose matrix named MIL-100(Fe)/Cell, and used it as an adsorbent of methylene blue (MB) dye. Adsorption was studied as a function of contact time, adsorbent mass and pollutant load (concentration), and pH, and the effect of each of them on absorption efficiency was optimized. MIL-100(Fe)/Cell was capable to remove 98.94% of MB dye with an initial concentration of 150 mg/L within 10 minutes. The obtained maximum adsorption capacity was 384.615 mg/g. The adsorption isotherm and kinetic were consistent with the Langmuir and pseudo-second order models. The mechanism of MB adsorption proceeds through п-п and electrostatic interactions.