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Fluorescent carbon nanoparticles from Citrus sinensis as efficient sorbents for pollutant dyes
Author(s) -
Adedokun Oluwaseun,
Roy Anurag,
Awodugba Ayodeji O.,
Devi P. Sujatha
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
luminescence
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.428
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1522-7243
pISSN - 1522-7235
DOI - 10.1002/bio.3149
Subject(s) - adsorption , methylene blue , zeta potential , freundlich equation , carbonization , aqueous solution , chemistry , langmuir , chemical engineering , cationic polymerization , nanoparticle , fluorescence , langmuir adsorption model , nuclear chemistry , raman spectroscopy , materials science , organic chemistry , nanotechnology , photocatalysis , catalysis , physics , optics , quantum mechanics , engineering
Here, we report a simple, green and economic process for the synthesis of highly fluorescent carbon nanoparticles (CPs) through low‐temperature carbonization of a fruit waste, Citrus sinensis peel. This approach allows the large‐scale production of aqueous CPs dispersions without any additives and post‐treatment processes. The as‐prepared CPs were of small particle size, exhibited bright blue fluorescence under UV irradiation ( λ max = 365 nm) with excellent colloidal stability in water. The chemical composition, structure and morphology of the as‐prepared CPs were analyzed using various spectroscopic techniques such as X‐ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and raman spectroscopy. The formed CPs were turbostratic in nature, with a large number of functional groups on the surface. We explored the adsorption characteristics of the formed CPs for wastewater treatment. Because of the negative surface of the CPs, as evident from the zeta value, it is possible to use them for selective adsorption of the cationic dye methylene blue from a mixture of dyes. The equilibrium adsorption isotherm revealed that the Langmuir model better describes the adsorption process than the Freundlich model. As‐prepared CPs rapidly adsorbed ~84% of the methylene blue within 1 min and can be regenerated and used repeatedly. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.