Facile preparation of nanocellulose embedded polypyrrole for dye removal: unary and binary process optimization and seed toxicity

Fundamental understanding of cellulose fibre composite with tailor-made personalization has contributed to a diverse range of high-end engineering applications. In this study, nanocellulose was synthesized from cellulose via the top-down method and chemical polymerization of pyrrole to make nanocellulose embedded polypyrrole composite. This modification provides superior properties, enhanced functionality and application in dye removal. This work may serve as an alternative for the conventional method for removing dye from industrial effluent, providing an essential, fascinating field of cellulose-based nanocomposite application. The goal is to study the application of the composite for the removal of direct blue 6 and bromophenol blue in unary and binary systems. The results show satisfactory removal of the dyes with 99.18, 96.32 and 98.77% for direct blue, bromophenol blue and binary system. To provide evidence about the clarity of the effluent after treating with the synthesized adsorbent, seed toxicity is performed where root length and % germination were used as a key metric.