Magnetic β-Cyclodextrin Nanosponges for Potential Application in the Removal of the Neonicotinoid Dinotefuran from Wastewater

Abstract

This article describes the use of β-cyclodextrin-based carbonate nanosponges (NSs) decorated with superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles to study and investigate the potential removal of dinotefuran (DTF) from wastewater. The NS-DTF inclusion compound was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), UV-visible spectroscopy (UV-VIS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR). The adsorption efficiency of NSs was evaluated as function of different contact times. The results confirmed that the NSs have a favourable sorption capacity for the chosen guest, as the polymers exhibited a maximum adsorption of 4.53 × 10−3 mmol/g for DTF. We also found that magnetic NSs show good reusability as they maintain their efficiency after eight adsorption and desorption cycles. Our studies and characterization by means of SEM, TEM, EDS, vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and UV-VIS also show that NSs with magnetic properties are excellent tools for insecticide removal from aqueous environments.

Keywords

• cyclodextrin nanosponges
• inclusion compounds
• magnetic nanoparticles
• adsorption
• nano-sorbents
• water treatment