Sorption based easy-to-use low-cost filters derived from invasive weed biomass for dye contaminated water cleanup

Abstract

Today, the development of functional nanostructured materials with specified morphologies utilizing environmentally friendly techniques is a very appealing topic in materials chemistry. Much emphasis has recently been paid to the utilization of biomass to make functional carbonaceous materials of varying forms, specifically carbon helices, with greater implications for the environment, economy, and society. A metal-catalyzed chemical vapour deposition technique has been developed for the fabrication of such carbon helices from nonrenewable hydrocarbons. Also, functionalization approaches were seen to necessitate high temperatures, hazardous gases, and multi-step processes. Herein, we have synthesized tendril-like functional carbon helices (HTCs) from toxic bio-weed, Parthenium hysterophorus as the carbon source by a greener solvothermal method employing deep eutectic solvent (DES) as both soft template and catalyst. Further, for the first time by taking advantage of the in-built chemical functionalities, HTCs were physically activated in an inert atmosphere at 900 °C (AHC) and functionalized with manganese oxide at room temperature by employing DES. Furthermore, the materials were characterized using FE-SEM, EDX, FT-IR, XRD, and BET analysis, where a surface area of 313.12 m² g⁻¹ was achieved with a robust removal of 99.68% of methylene blue (MB) dye with a flux rate of 7432.71 LMH in a simulated continuous flow system. The obtained material was also evaluated for its specificity towards contaminant removal from an aqueous medium. Thus, Mn₃O₄/AHC membranes exhibited great promise as an easy-to-use filter for organic contaminant cleanup, with about 91% rejection of MB even at the end of the 10^th cycle, indicating its potential.