Preparation of Green Cellulose Nanoparticles Containing Pd Complex and Their Application as Photocatalyst

Cellulose nanowhisker produced from acid hydrolysis of cotton linter and used as starting material for fabrication of a new polymer-supported palladium complex. It is firstly, grafted by citric acid and then loaded by Palladium complex. Successful fabrication of Palladium complex supported polymer confirmed using FT-IR and NMR spectroscopy. Thermal behavior and crystalline structure of the resulting composite evaluated by TGA and XRD techniques. The results showed that composite has higher thermal stability and lower crystallinity in comparison with unmodified cellulose nanowhisker. Finally, the potential application of the synthesized cellulose nanowhisker-graft-citric acid/palladium complex as a photocatalyst for degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenol was examined. The results showed that the polymer-supported Palladium complex could be an effective photocatalyst with a narrow bandgap. It could eliminate 2,4-dichlorophenol after 300 min illumination.