Cellulose nanocrystals (CNs) is a new kind of biomass nanomaterials with high crystallite, high Young Modulus and mechanical strength. Chemical modification of CNs and subsquent preparation of hybrid materials with CNs and/or inorganic functional nanomaterials would give more special properties and make CNs a good candidate to be used in many fields. In this study, modified cellulose nanocrystals were prepared and used as templates to synthesize Fe2O3 nanoparticles, which were applied to adsorb materials for water treatment. CNs with size about 100-200 nm in length and 10-20 nm in width were prepared from microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) as raw material by H2SO4 hydrolysis. Carboxylated cellulose nanocrystals (CCNs) was synthesized from CNs by surface chemical modifications using the TEMPO/NaClO/NaBr oxidation system. The X-Ray diffraction results showed that crystal phase of CCNs was the same as that of MCC and CNs. Iron oxide nanoparticles with different morphologies were then synthesized by hydrothermal reactions with different conditions in the presence of CCNs as stabilizing agent. The composites composed of iron oxide and cellulose were characterised by TEM, XRD and FT-IR. The adsorptive capacities of MCC, CCNs, Fe2O3 and CCNs/Fe2O3 composite to Cd2+, Pb2+, Ni2+, Cr2O72-, AsO43- and PO43- were also investigated. Results show that CCNs/Fe2O3composite show better adsorptive capacities to the anions and cations than single component system. Acknowledgements: The authors sincerely thank the support from Special Fund for Forestry Scientific Research in the Public Interest (201104004), National Natural Science Foundation of China (31170540), Natural Science Fund of Jiangsu Province (BK2011111), and Special Fund of Central Scientific Institute (CAFINT2011C01).

Preparation and characterization of composites of carboxylated cellulose nanocrystals and iron oxide nanoparticles

247th National Meeting (2014)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.