Journal of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, 2018, 6, 65-77 http://www.scirp.org/journal/msce ISSN Online: 2327-6053 ISSN Print: 2327-6045 DOI: 10.4236/msce.2018.64009 Apr. 12, 2018 65 Journal of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering Structural Study of Cellulose-Iron Oxide Composite Materials Dexu Kong 1 , Lee D. Wilson 2* 1 Saskatchewan Research Council, Saskatoon, SK, Canada 2 Department of Chemistry, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada Abstract There are limited structural studies of iron oxide coated cellulose materials despite their use as adsorbents for the removal of waterborne arsenic species. This study reports on the structural characterization of cellulose-iron oxide composites at variable iron oxide content using spectroscopy methods (Ra- man, solids 13 C NMR, powder X-ray diffraction (pXRD)) and thermal gravi- metric analysis (TGA). Iron oxide was supported onto cellulose (ca. 25 wt.%) without significant loss in the Fe coating efficiency, where the accessibility of the biopolymer -OH groups affect the coating efficiency and yield of the iron oxide-cellulose composite. Isotherm adsorption studies for cellulose, iron oxide species and the cellulose composite materials with roxarsone (3-nitro- 4-hydroxyphenylarsonic acid) were studied to characterize the surface chemi- cal properties of these potential adsorbent materials. Keywords Characterization, Iron Oxide, Cellulose, Composite, Roxarsone, Adsorption 1. Introduction The utilization of renewable cellulose materials have received increasing atten- tion due to their abundance, low cost, and unique properties, especially the po- lymer composites with surface modified forms [1]. Adsorbents containing iron oxide are widely available and may be prepared readily [2] with large surface area and suitable surface binding sites for inorganic species and organic arseni- cals such as roxarsone (3-nitro-4-hydroxyphenylarsonic acid). Adsorption iso- therm models are used herein to investigate the surface chemistry and textural properties of iron oxide-cellulose composites. Cellulose is a renewable and biodegradable polymer with a unique fibril How to cite this paper: Kong, D. and Wilson, L.D. (2018) Structural Study of Cellulose-Iron Oxide Composite Materials. Journal of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, 6, 65-77. https://doi.org/10.4236/msce.2018.64009 Received: March 28, 2018 Accepted: April 5, 2018 Published: April 12, 2018