Facile preparation of magnetic carbon nanofiber composite from nata de coco for removal of methylene blue dye from water

Abstract

The facile synthesis of a magnetic 3D structured carbon nanofiber composite from nata de coco was demonstrated. Nata de coco was used as a readily available and renewable source of carbon in this study because of its high cellulose content in the form of nanofibers. Fe3+ was utilized as the magnetic particle source and as a pore activating agent. Nata de coco was freeze-dried, infiltrated with Fe3+solution, and subsequently pyrolyzed at 700 °C to prepare the magnetic carbon nanofiber composite. The resulting composite was then characterized via scanning electron microscopy, surface area and pore size analysis, X-ray diffraction, and vibrating sample magnetometry. A magnetic carbon composite with a 3D fibrous and porous structure and a high surface area of 584 m2/g was successfully obtained. When used as an adsorbent, the sample completely adsorbed 10 ppm of methylene blue (MB) dye within 1 min. The composite can be simply regenerated using ethanol and can thus be reused. The excellent magnetic properties of the sorbent allow it to be readily separated from aqueous solutions by applying an external magnet. Hence, the sorbent is practical to use in real systems.