Abstract Water shortage is a global concern of growing population. Worldwide, over 1.1 billion people lack access to clean drinking water due to various contaminations including Fluoride, heavy metal ions, Arsenic or other organic pollutants. In this study, we demonstrate a new way to remove high concentration Lanthanide ions from water using renewable and sustainable nanocellulose materials. In specific, we have developed carboxycellulose nanofibers (NOCNF) from untreated (raw) Agave biomass using a simple and cost-effective nitro-oxidation approach. The resulting NOCNF, having an average width of 4.3 nm and an average length of 800-1000 nm, possessed 1.02 mmol/g carboxylate content, high surface charge (−65 mV), and hydrophilicity (static contact angle 39°). The resulting nanofibers (NOCNF) were found to be an effective medium to remove Ln+3 ions from water. For example, a low concentration of NOCNF suspension (0.20 wt %) could remove Ln3+ions over a large concentration range (50–5000 ppm) in a relatively short time period (≤4 min) at various conditions (pH 4 to 9). Furthermore, NOCNF characterized by NMR, WAXD, FTIR, SEM, TEM, BET, AFM, TGA, XPS, elementals analysis and ICP MS techniques. This study demonstrated a viable, economic and sustainable solution for removal of Lanthanide ion impurities from water, without risk of cross contaminations.

Nitro-oxidized carboxy nanocellulose derived from agave for effective removal of lanthanides from water

2019 Fall National Meeting

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