A fluorescent biomass derived cellulose/PANI/NiFe2O4 composite for the mitigation of toxic pollutants and Cr(VI) sensing from aqueous environment

Abstract

Targeting routine water pollution due to industries and biowaste management, present work focuses on synthesis of biomass derived photocatalysts for abatement and detection of noxious pollutants. Herein, a series of nickel ferrite/cellulose-polyaniline composites (NF/C-PA) were fabricated via hydrothermal route and were successfully characterized. The comparative analysis of all the synthesized composites was carried out for photo-Fenton degradation of different pollutants, namely, Remazol brilliant yellow (RBY), Safranin O (SO) dyes, Levofloxacin (LVX) and Ofloxacin (OFX) drugs, and para-nitrophenol (PNP). Amongst all composites, NF/C-PA 1.5 bestowed best photocatalytic results with a degradation value of 95.42 % (k1 = 0.0859 min−1), 93.42 % (k1 = 0.0859 min−1), 91.96 % (k1 = 0.0731 min−1), 87.44 % (k1 = 0.1213 min−1), and 90.73 % (k1 = 0.1195 min−1) within 30 min for RBY, SO, LVX, OFX and PNP, respectively. Furthermore, the synthesized NF/C-PA 1.5 composite was successfully employed as fluorescence probe for selective and sensitive detection of Cr(VI) in wastewater with the limit of detection value 4 µM in the linear range of 0 to 200 µM. The sensor demonstrated virtuous pertinency in real water samples. Thus, the synthesized biobased composites exhibited multifunctional platform for the removal and detection of pernicious contaminants from aqueous environment.