Constructing the nanomixture of guar gum and Fe3O4 for photocatalytic degradation of dyes and heavy metal

A novel nanomixture derived from the partially hydrolyzed guar gum and in situ assimilated Fe3O4 (GG-Fe3O4) has been developed and characterized using TGA, PXRD, UV-visible, FESEM, FT-IR, XPS, TEM, elemental mapping, and VSM analysis. FESEM and TEM analysis have revealed that GG-Fe3O4 consists of the homogeneous mixture of Fe3O4 and guar gum nanoparticles of different shapes, i.e., octahedron with circle and square. The synthesized nanomixture demonstrated efficient degradation of carcinogenic and mutagenic dyes indigo carmine and crystal violet and photoreduction of Cr(VI) under direct sunlight radiation. Besides, the magnetically retrieved photo-catalyst exhibited its reusability up to six cycles in the degradation process without notable loss of catalytic activity. The major focus of this study is to use iron oxide nanoparticles with excellent reusability toward photocatalytic degradation of organic dye pollutants in wastewater and exploit this technique for environmental remediation applications.