Cinnamon nanocellulose as a novel catalyst to remove methyl orange from aqueous solution

Abstract

In this research, cinnamon nanocellulose was used to remove methyl orange (MO) from aqueous solution. For this purpose, microcellulose was initially prepared by crushing cinnamon and boiling it in an organic solvent. Controlled acid hydrolysis and base treatment of microcellulose led to nanocellulose production. The prepared nanocellulose was characterized by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD),-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis. The average diameter of nanocellulose was 50 nm. Then, the synthesized nanocellulose was used in the MO decolorization process. The first and final concentrations of MO were measured by a UV–Visible spectrophotometer in the presence of cinnamon, microcellulose and nanocellulose. To obtain high decolorization efficiency, the effects of probable effective parameters such as the amount of nanocellulose, solution temperature, time, and H2O2 addition were also investigated; the parameters were also studied and optimized using Box Behnken Design (BBD) to derive response surface equations. The overall results showed that the highest amount of decolorization was obtained using 50 mg of nanocellulose at the solution temperature of 90 °C in 60 min. The analysis of separated nanocellulose after decolorization using FT-IR, SEM, EDAX approved the morphological and structural stability during the process. As well as the nanocellulose can be used for 6 repeated cycles.