Arsenite (As(III)) contamination in drinking water has become a worldwide problem in recent years, which leads to development of various As(III) remediation approaches. In this study, two biomass-based nanostructured materials, microscale dialdehyde cellulose–cysteine (MDAC–cys) and nanoscale dialdehyde cellulose–cysteine (NDAC–cys) fibers, have been prepared from wood pulp. Their As(III) removal efficiencies and mechanism were determined by combined adsorption, atomic fluorescence spectrometry, microscopy (scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy), and spectroscopy (Fourier transform infrared, 13C CPMAS NMR) methods. The adsorption results of these materials could be well described by the Freundlich isotherm model, where the maximum adsorption capacities estimated by the Langmuir isotherm model were 344.82 mg/g for MDAC–cys and 357.14 mg/g for NDAC–cys, respectively. Both MDAC–cys and NDAC–cys materials were further characterized by X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analysis, where the results indicated that the thiol groups (the S content in MDAC–cys was 12.70 and NDAC–cys was 17.15%) on cysteine were primarily responsible for the adsorption process. The nanostructured MDAC–cys system appeared to be more suitable for practical applications because of its high cost-effectiveness.

Synthetic rubber produced from nonrenewable fossil fuel requires high energy costs and is dependent on the presumed unstable petroleum price. Natural rubber latex (NRL) is one of the major alternative sustainable rubber sources since it is derived from the plant ‘Hevea brasiliensis’. Our study focuses on integrating sustainably processed carboxycellulose nanofibers from untreated jute biomass into NRL to enhance the mechanical strength of the material for various applications. The carboxycellulose nanofibers (NOCNF) having carboxyl content of 0.94 mmol/g was prepared and integrated into its nonionic form (–COONa) for its higher dispersion in water to increase the interfacial interaction between NRL and NOCNF. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analyses of NOCNF showed the average dimensions of nanofibers were length (L) = 524 ± 203 nm, diameter (D) 7 ± 2 nm and thickness 2.9 nm. Furthermore, fourier transform infra-red spectrometry (FTIR) analysis of NOCNF depicted the presence of carboxyl group. However, the dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurement of NRL demonstrated an effective diameter in the range of 643 nm with polydispersity of 0.005. Tensile mechanical strengths were tested to observe the enhancement effects at various concentrations of NOCNF in the NRL. Mechanical properties of NRL/NOCNF films were determined by tensile testing, where the results showed an increasing trend of enhancement. With the increasing NOCNF concentration, the film modulus was found to increase quite substantially, but the elongation-to-break ratio decreased drastically. The presence of NOCNF changed the NRL film from elastic to brittle. However, at the NOCNF overlap concentration (0.2 wt. %), the film modulus seemed to be the highest.

The fuel cell is the best alternative to compensate for today’s energy demand, but the high cost of fabrication of membrane (e.g., Nafion) hampers the prevalent commercialization. Plant-derived nanocellulose is...

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Ultrafiltration (UF) is a common technique used in wastewater treatments. However, the issue of membrane fouling in UF can greatly hinder the effectiveness of the treatments. This study demonstrated a low-fouling composite cellulose membrane system based on microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) and silica nanoparticle additives. The incorporation of ‘non-spherical’ silica nanoparticles was found to exhibit better structural integration in the membrane (i.e., minimal aggregation of silica nanoparticles in the membrane scaffold) as compared to spherical silica. The resulting composite membranes were tested for UF using local wastewater, where the best-performing membrane exhibited higher permeation flux than commercial polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) and polyether sulfone (PES) membranes while maintaining a high separation efficiency (~99.6%) and good flux recovery ratio (>90%). The analysis of the fouling behavior using different models suggested that the processes of cake layer formation and pore-constriction were probably two dominant fouling mechanisms, likely due to the presence of humic substances in wastewater. The demonstrated cellulose composite membrane system showed low-fouling and high restoration capability by a simple hydraulic cleaning method due to the super hydrophilic nature of the cellulose scaffold containing silica nanoparticles.