Triple-effect synergy of inclusion-electrostatic-coordinative interactions: Performance and mechanism of...

The rapid growth of urbanization and industrialization around the world has led to significant water pollution caused by humans. In response to the challenge of treating complex contamination involving dyes, heavy metals and sulfides, this study successfully designed and synthesized a porous micellar structure adsorbent (CNTC) using cyclodextrin as the raw material via molecular design. Physical characterization reveals that the material possesses unique morphological features and is rich in functional groups, such as hydroxyl, carboxyl and amino groups. It also has an extended π-π conjugated system, which provides multiple active sites for efficient adsorption. Adsorption experiments confirm that CNTC exhibits exceptional removal capacities for Congo red (CR), Cu²⁺ and sulfides, with maximum adsorption capacities of 1621.27, 158.99 and 218.47 mg/g respectively. The adsorption process conforms to the multilayer chemisorption model and proceeds spontaneously. Notably, in dynamic column adsorption experiments, CNTC's adsorption behavior towards CR closely matches the Yoon-Nelson model, demonstrating its potential for continuous treatment. Furthermore, CNTC exhibits excellent cycling stability and salt tolerance, maintaining high pollutant removal efficiency in real aquatic environments, which indicates its significant practical application value.