In an interview, Dr Ramavatar Meena, Senior Scientist (Natural Products and Green Chemistry Division), Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute with Chemical Today magazine opens up on the myriad of opportunities that seaweed has in developing nanocomposite for industrial use.
Research insight.
My research focuses on the value addition of Indian seaweed biomass. We have been focusing on converting seaweed biomass to various nanomaterials-based products, ranging from seaweed polymer-based nanocomposites with potential antibacterial, anticancer properties to seaweed-biomass based nanomaterials, nanocomposites for various applications including waste water treatment. The ultimate goal however, is to develop ecofriendly and cost-effective processes capable of providing smart nanomaterials and seaweed products at efficient rates for potential uses at industrial scale.
Potential of nanotechnology in various sectors.
Nanotechnology is an interdisciplinary field that covers an enormous and diverse array of devices derived from engineering, physics, chemistry and biology. Over the next couple of years, it is widely anticipated that nanotechnology will continue to evolve and expand in many areas of life and science, and the achievements of nanotechnology will be applied in water purification, sensor, medical sciences, including diagnostics, drug delivery systems and patient treatment.
Wastewater treatment using nanomaterials.
We have developed a simple and solvent-free synthetic route for the production of FeS/Fe(0) functionalized graphene nanocomposite (G-Fe) via a one-step pyrolysis of seaweed biomass (Ulva fasciata). FeCl3 was employed both as the iron precursor as well as the templating agent. Iron doping played a dual-faceted role of exfoliating as well as activating agent, producing composite with high adsorption capacity for Pb2+ (645±10 mg/g), Congo Red (CR, 970 mg/g), Crystal Violet (CV, 909 mg/g), Methyl Orange (MO, 664 mg/g), Methylene Blue (MB, 402 mg/g) dyes and good recyclability (8 cycles). Pb2+ adsorption was irreversible even at low pH values and the spent composite (G-Fe-Pb) was utilized for efficient Cr(VI) removal (?100 mg/g).
Further, a thin layer of composite was deposited on a filter paper by vacuum filtration which was tested under continuous filtration mode for Reactive Black-5 dye removal. Preliminary results highlight the potential of this composite to be used in pre-treatment steps in hybrid membrane processes for filtration of complex wastewater feeds.
Read more: Smart solutions from seaweeds
In an interview, Dr Ramavatar Meena, Senior Scientist (Natural Products and Green Chemistry Division), Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute with Chemical Today magazine opens up on the myriad of opportunities that seaweed has in developing nanocomposite for industrial use.
Research insight.
My research focuses on the value addition of Indian seaweed biomass. We have been focusing on converting seaweed biomass to various nanomaterials-based products, ranging from seaweed polymer-based nanocomposites with potential antibacterial, anticancer properties to seaweed-biomass based nanomaterials, nanocomposites for various applications including waste water treatment. The ultimate goal however, is to develop ecofriendly and cost-effective processes capable of providing smart nanomaterials and seaweed products at efficient rates for potential uses at industrial scale.
Potential of nanotechnology in various sectors.
Nanotechnology is an interdisciplinary field that covers an enormous and diverse array of devices derived from engineering, physics, chemistry and biology. Over the next couple of years, it is widely anticipated that nanotechnology will continue to evolve and expand in many areas of life and science, and the achievements of nanotechnology will be applied in water purification, sensor, medical sciences, including diagnostics, drug delivery systems and patient treatment.
Wastewater treatment using nanomaterials.
We have developed a simple and solvent-free synthetic route for the production of FeS/Fe(0) functionalized graphene nanocomposite (G-Fe) via a one-step pyrolysis of seaweed biomass (Ulva fasciata). FeCl3 was employed both as the iron precursor as well as the templating agent. Iron doping played a dual-faceted role of exfoliating as well as activating agent, producing composite with high adsorption capacity for Pb2+ (645±10 mg/g), Congo Red (CR, 970 mg/g), Crystal Violet (CV, 909 mg/g), Methyl Orange (MO, 664 mg/g), Methylene Blue (MB, 402 mg/g) dyes and good recyclability (8 cycles). Pb2+ adsorption was irreversible even at low pH values and the spent composite (G-Fe-Pb) was utilized for efficient Cr(VI) removal (?100 mg/g).
Further, a thin layer of composite was deposited on a filter paper by vacuum filtration which was tested under continuous filtration mode for Reactive Black-5 dye removal. Preliminary results highlight the potential of this composite to be used in pre-treatment steps in hybrid membrane processes for filtration of complex wastewater feeds.
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