Magnetic Hollow Biocomposites Prepared from Lycopodium clavatum Pollens as Efficient Recyclable Catalyst

Abstract

The present paper describes the preparation of magnetic hollow biocomposites (MgBC) from Lycopodium clavatum (LC) pollens by using microwave chemistry and investigates their catalytic activities on the model reaction of Rhodamine B (RhB), which is a representative environmental organic pollutant, in the presence sodium borohydride. The fabricated MgBC displayed unique microstructure with a narrow size distribution of 28 +/- 0.45 mu m and surface, which was decorated with reticulate web-like micro ridges surrounded by pores and Fe3O4 nanoparticles (a spherical form with an average size of about 8.54 +/- 2.74 nm). The produced MgBCs exhibited high efficiency and excellent catalytic reduction performance for RhB (100 % removed within 230 sec), which could be ascribed to unique structure and high surface area of the Fe3O4 doped bio-composite. Furthermore, the MgBCs recycled five times using an external magnet without a major loss of catalytic efficiency. Therefore, MgBC can be used as effective and suitable recycled catalysts for practical applications.