Hollow cellulose-carbon nanotubes composite beads with aligned porous structure for fast methylene blue adsorption

Polysaccharide based beads with unique porous structure have gained considerable interests due to their specific adsorption behaviors and biodegradability. The purpose of this paper was to develop hollow cellulose/carbon nanotubes composite beads with aligned porous structure which have potential applications in fast adsorption field. The composite beads were fabricated by ice template and freeze-drying technology. Different characterizations have proved that the carbon nanotubes and magnetic nanoparticles have been incorporated into the cellulose beads. Higher concentration of carbon nanotubes and cellulose would result in a larger diameter of the composite beads. The composite beads can effectively adsorb the methylene blue (MB). The pseudo-secondorder model and Langmuir isotherm were best fitted to the adsorption. The composite beads showed a fast adsorption behavior towardsMBwith a t(1/2) of 1.07 min obtained frompseudo-second-order model. Themaximum adsorption capacity was 285.71mg g(-1) at pH 7.0. The composite beads also showed good reusability and biodegradability. We anticipate that different polysaccharides based composite beads with aligned porous structure can be obtained through the similar methods and applied in adsorption fields. (c) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study developed hollow cellulose/carbon nanotubes composite beads with aligned porous structure, which were fabricated by ice template and freeze-drying technology. The composite beads showed effective adsorption of methylene blue, fast adsorption behavior, good reusability, and biodegradability, indicating potential applications in the adsorption fields.