Single Step Heating for Facile Extraction of Cellulose Fibers from Rice Straw and Its Copper Oxide Nanoparticles Coating for Catalytic Reduction Application

In this study, cellulose fibres were extracted from agro-waste (rice straws) via a single step heating process. Furthermore, one step copper oxide nanoparticles coating, without any reducing agent was done on cellulose fibres. This agro-waste-based composite was employed as a catalyst for the reduction of methylene blue dye. Characteristics studies of composite using X-Ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Field emission scanning electron microscope and Energy dispersive X-ray confirmed the successful extraction of cellulose-I polymorph and coating of monoclinic copper oxide nanoparticles. They also exhibited good thermal stability as investigated from thermo gravimetric analysis. UV-visible absorbance studies confirmed a 95.6% reduction of methylene blue (MB) dye within 7-8 min in the presence of 30 mg as an optimized concentration of catalyst (copper oxide nanoparticles coated cellulose fibres with sodium borohydride as a reducing agent). Kinetic studies showed that reduction reaction was following first-order kinetic with a rate constant of 0.193 min(-1). Binding stability was confirmed from inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICM-PS). From ICM-PS, it was found that the water solution was recovered without release of nanoparticles after completion of catalytic activity. [GRAPHICS] .