Abstract
Synthesis of nanomaterials following green routes have drawn much attention in recent years due to the low cost, easy and eco-friendly approaches involved therein. Therefore, the current study is focused towards the synthesis of Fe
3
O
4
/α-Fe
2
O
3
nanocomposite using waste pulp of Jamun (
Syzygium cumini
) and iron nitrate as the precursor of iron in an eco-friendly way. The synthesized Fe
3
O
4
/α-Fe
2
O
3
nanocomposite has been extensively characterized through numerous techniques to explore the physicochemical properties, including X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, Ultraviolet-Vis spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscope, high resolution transmission electron microscope and vibrating sample magnetometer. Further, efficiency of the Fe
3
O
4
/α-Fe
2
O
3
nanocomposite has been evaluated to improve the incubation temperature, thermal/pH stability of the crude cellulase enzymes obtained from the lab isolate fungal strain
Cladosporium cladosporioides
NS2 via solid state fermentation. It is found that the presence of 0.5% Fe
3
O
4
/α-Fe
2
O
3
nanocomposite showed optimum incubation temperature and thermal stability in the long temperature range of 50–60 °C for 15 h along with improved pH stability in the range of pH 3.5–6.0. The presented study may have potential application in bioconversion of waste biomass at high temperature and broad pH range.