Locust Bean gum-based hydrogels embedded magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles nanocomposite: Advanced materials for environmental and energy applications

This paper reports a simple method of designing and synthesizing magnetic iron oxide (IO) integrated locust bean gum-cl-polyacrylonitrile hydrogel nanocomposites (LBG-cl-PAN/IONP) by in situ mineralization of iron ions in a hydrogel matrix. A two-step gel crosslink method followed by co-precipitation method was used to prepare these novel hydrogels embedded with magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles. The LBG-cl-PAN/IONP hydrogel nanocomposite (HNC) were tested in batch adsorption experiments for their ability to remove a cationic dyes, methylene blue (MB) & Methyl violet (MV), from aqueous solution. In order to analyze the LBG-cl-PAN/IONP HNC, FTIR, XRD, XPS, VSM, TEM, and EDX techniques were applied. Numerous operating parameters were studied, including the amount of adsorbent, the contact time, pH, temperature, the dye concentration, and the coexisting ion concentration. According to the Langmuir isotherm model, MB and MV had maximum monolayer adsorptive capacities of 1250 and 1111 mg/g, respectively. LBG-cl-PAN/IONP HNC controlled IONP oxidation as well as sustained adsorptive removal over a wide pH range (7-10). The key mechanism of adsorption consisted of electrostatic interaction and ion exchange. For successful use in successive cycles after regeneration using HNO3 as eluent, the LBG-cl-PAN/IONP HNC can easily be reused. As a material, the LBG-cl-PAN/IONP HNC is a promising sorbent or composite material for removing toxic dyes from water, and therefore can be applied to enhance water and wastewater treatment technology. Additionally, we have briefly evaluated LBG-cl-PAN/IONP HNC for antibacterial and supercapacitor applications. According to our knowledge, this is the first report describing the use of LBG-cl-PAN/IONP HNC multifunctional efficacy as an excellent sorbent, antibacterial and electrochemical supercapacitor applications.