Cellulose extraction from corn husk for cellulose-based bionanocomposite preparation with remarkable adsorption capacity for doxorubicin drug: Emphasis on effects ultrasonic waves

Abstract

In this study, cellulose fibers were extracted from corn husks and magnetized by co-precipitation method. To increase the total pore volume and surface area, magnetic cellulose (Fe₃O₄-Cellulose) was modified with metal-organic frameworks (Al-MOFs) and used as a low-cost biosorbent for doxorubicin removal. Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method results showed that the specific surface area of magnetic cellulose after modification with MOFs increased from 106.89 m²/g to 117.26 m²/g. Influential parameters such as the initial concentration of doxorubicin, pH, dosage of adsorbent, and time were optimized by the Taguchi method. The optimized conditions were found to be 20 mg/L initial concentration, 2 g/L dosages of adsorbent, pH 6, and time 80 min. The adsorption isotherm study revealed that the adsorption process with and without ultrasonic waves follows the Freundlich and Langmuir models, respectively. Also, the study of the effect of ultrasound waves on adsorption efficiency revealed that ultrasound waves improve adsorption capacity from 96 to 108 mg/g through the cavitation phenomenon. Additionally, the study of the desorption and reusability showed that the efficient adsorption of DOX decreased from 92.89 % to 80.15 % after 7 cycles. This adsorbent has a favorable adsorption capacity compared to other adsorbents reported in the literature. Therefore, Fe₃O₄-Cellulose/Al-MOFs nanocomposite combined with ultrasonic technique can be used as a fast adsorbent with favorable adsorption capacity for doxorubicin removal.

Keywords: Adsorption; Cellulose; Corn husk; Doxorubicin.