Facile synthesize of composite for pollutant removal of lead and methylene blue (MB)

Water contamination caused by inconsistencies in the removal of contemporary colors and heavy metals constitutes a serious global ecological concern. This study introduces a composite material made of cellulose acetate coated with activated carbon, which is made more effective by including pectic enzymes. This composite is easily manufactured and has caused considerable interest due to its potential in wastewater treatment via absorption‐based techniques for the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye and lead removal. Thermal processing and electrospinning are used in the synthesis process. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE‐SEM), Energy Dispersive Xray‐ Analysis (EDX), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), and UV‐absorbency were used to characterize the resultant pectic cellulose/activated carbon nanofibers (P‐CNFs). In addition, inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectroscopy (ICP‐MS) was used to evaluate lead ion adsorption. Several parameters, including initial lead ion and methylene blue concentrations, solution pH, and nanofiber, were investigated. Fifty percent of pectic‐containing composite (cellulose/activated carbon) P‐CNF has shown remarkable differences when compared to non‐pectic and different ratio composite due to higher surface area and porosity. It also increases light absorption and decreases charge recombination, resulting in a maximum degradation efficiency of 98.5% in a neutral solution under UV‐light irradiation for 25 min, compared to pure CNF (degradation efficiency is 49% after 60 min of irradiation). In the case of lead removal, 80% efficiency was achieved in 5 min.