Nanocomposite based on chitosan/CF/CN beads as a promising inactivator of Escherichia coli

This research proposes the production of a composite material consisting of nanosheets of graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) coated with cobalt ferrite nanoparticles (CF) and embedded in crosslinked chitosan. The aim of the work was to apply this material in photocatalytic inactivation processes of water bodies polluted with bacteria, as well as in the oxidative degradation of ibuprofen, using a 400 nm and 10 W radiation source. The g-CN was obtained through the thermal decomposition of melamine or urea, and CF was produced from FeCl2 center dot 4H(2)O and Co(NO3)(2)center dot 6H(2)O in an alkaline medium in the presence of g-CN nanosheets. The resulting material was dispersed in an acetic chitosan solution, forming beads by dripping the mixture onto 2M NaOH solution. The synthesized materials were characterized using X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM). The final composite (chitosan/1CF5g-CN_m) achieved a yield close to 51% for the oxidative photocatalytic degradation efficiency of ibuprofen in aqueous solution. Regarding bacterial inactivation tests of Escherichia coli, a reduction of up to two orders of magnitude, corresponding to 21% at the end of the photocatalytic process, was attained.