Transformation of rust iron into a sustainable product for applications in the electronic, energy, biomedical, and environment fields: Towards a multitasking approach

Utilization of waste material for value-added applications is a sustainable approach towards reduction of global waste. Herein, the waste rust iron is transformed into useful Fe2O3 nanoparticles (FNPs). Here for the first time, FNPs were uniquely utilized in multiple applications, including resistive switching (RS), tribo and piezo-electric nano-generators, magnetic hyperthermia, and toxic dyes adsorption from water. The RS characteristics of the Ag/ FNPs/ITO device emphasized bipolar switching with excellent cyclic stability, endurance, and memory retention. Afterward, the FNPs based tribo and piezo-electric nanogenerator device demonstrated greater instantaneous power (5200 mu W) at 10 M ohm, surpassing previously reported inorganic or garbage materials. Furthermore, the pertinency of FNPs was explored for biomedical application by induction heating studies for magnetic fluid hyperthermia (MFH). MFH revealed an increase in temperature of 14.9 degrees C and 23.4 degrees C for 5 mg and 10 mg FNPs ferrofluid, respectively, thus indicating the potential of FNPs for possible cancer treatment with biocompatibility suggestions. Finally, the adsorption study reveals that the FNPs are a promising candidate for the adsorption of safranin M.S., methylene blue, malachite green, and lemon yellow powder, (77, 78, 59, and 56 mg/g, respectively). We believe that our current study will result in a significant impact to reduce the future burden of global waste and thus encourage its utilization for value-added applications.