Green one-step synthesis of ZnO/cellulose nanocrystal hybrids with modulated morphologies and superfast absorption of cationic dyes

• Published in: International journal of biological macromolecules 2019-07, Vol.132, p.51-62
• Main Authors: Guan, Ying, Yu, Hou-Yong, Abdalkarim, Somia Yassin Hussain, Wang, Chuang, Tang, Feng, Marek, Jaromir, Chen, Wei-Lai, Militky, Jiri, Yao, Ju-Ming
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cationic dye absorption; Morphological modulation; ZnO/cellulose nanocrystal hybrids
• ISSN: 0141-8130; 1879-0003
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2019.03.104

Zinc oxide/cellulose nanocrystal (ZnO/CNC) hybrids with modulated morphologies were prepared by using bamboo CNC as templates via green one-step technique. The effect of pH values on the morphology, microstructure, thermal stability, antibacterial efficiency and dye absorption kinetics of hybrids were investigated. A possible mechanism for various hybrid morphologies at different pH values was provided. All the samples exhibited high antibacterial ratios of 91.4%–99.8% against both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. ZnO/CNC8.5 gave quick removal efficiency with high dye removal ratios in methylene blue (MB, 93.55%) and malachite green (MG, 99.02%), especially >91.47% and 97.85% within 5 min. The absorption capacity could reach up to 46.77 mg/g for MB and 49.51 mg/g for MG. Besides, absorption kinetics showed that the absorption behavior followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model (R2 > 0.99996). Such ZnO/CNC hybrids show outstanding and low-cost adsorbent for efficient absorption of cationic dyes in wastewater treatment field. [Display omitted] •ZnO/CNC nanohybrids were obtained by a green one-step synthesis technique.•Various ZnO/CNC morphologies were modulated by using bamboo CNC as biotemplate.•Nearly spherical, sheet-like and flower-like structures were modulated at various pH values.•ZnO/CNC8.5 showed superfast adsorption ability for cationic dyes within 5 min.