Fabrication a sustainable adsorbent nanocellulose-mesoporous hectorite bead for methylene blue adsorption

In this study, fabrication of mesoporous nanocellulose-hectorite-alginate bead (B-NcH) composites and their application for adsorption of MB from water was carried out. The synthesis of nanocellulose (NC) was conducted from mangosteen waste peel (Garcinia mangostana L.). Garcinia mangostana L. peel had 58.9 ± 0,41 % content of cellulose. NCs was successfully isolated using the acid hydrolysis method. NC from Garcinia mangostana L. peel had a diameter of 24.5 ± 0.2 nm and a length of 381.2 ± 10.4 nm. The superabsorbent was composed of nanocrystalline cellulose, mesoporous hectorite, and alginate. The functional group, phase, and morphology of composite was investigated. The composite with 5 % NC had excellent mechanical strength. The B-NcH5 showed a high adsorption capacity of methylene blue (MB), reaching 98.64 % at an adsorbent dose of 30 mg for 90 min. The presence of hectorite can increase the adsorption ability compared to NCs-alginate. The equilibrium adsorption data followed the Freundlich isotherm; however, the kinetics of adsorption showed the usefulness of adopting the PSO kinetic model. The highest adsorption capacity of B-NcH5 for MB was determined to be 57.59 mg/g. For thermodynamic studies, it was revealed that the adsorption of MB on BNcH-5 is a spontaneous and endothermic process. The removal efficiency was observed in six consecutive cycles, indicating at the favorable reusability of this adsorbent. These results validate the potential use of this B-NcH5 adsorbent for water treatment applications.