Carboxymethyl cellulose prepared from mesquite tree: New source for promising nanocomposite materials.

In the current article cellulose pulp extracted from mesquite tree was characterized and used as a raw material for preparation of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) which further used for preparing nanocomposite. CMC/Fe3O4 nanocomposite was synthesized by co-precipitation of iron (II) and (III) salts by aqueous ammonia in CMC solution. Cellulose pulp, CMC and CMC/Fe3O4 materials were characterized by using FTIR, XRD, TGA, SEM and TEM analysis. The results showed that homogenous spherical magnetic nanoparticles with diameter ∼25 nm were formed. The nanocomposite was further applied to remove methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solutions. The adsorption experiments showed the maximum adsorption capacity at pH 7. The adsorption results were analyzed by different isotherm and kinetic models and the results were fitted well with the Langmuir model and pseudo second-order model respectively. The current article showed that mesquite tree is a new resource for cellulose pulp which could be employed for preparing sustainable and environmentally friendly composite materials.