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Congratulations to Samapti Kundu for her exciting new paper on Iron-montmorillonite -cyclodextrines published in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces!

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acsami.0c17510

Abstract

Abstract Image

Iron–clay–cyclodextrin composites were designed as sorbent catalysts to adsorb and oxidize pollutants from water. The clay–iron backbone served as a mechanical support and as a heterogeneous Fenton catalyst, and the cyclodextrin monomers or polymers cross-linked with polyfluorinated aromatic molecules were used to accommodate adsorption of the pollutants. The composite based on iron–clay–cyclodextrin–polymers (Fe–MMT−βCD–DFB) exhibited superior adsorption and degradation of the model pollutants, bisphenol A (BPA), carbamazepine (CBZ), and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), compared to the monomer-based composite and the native iron clay. The variety of adsorption sites, such as the polyfluorinated aromatic cross-linker, cyclodextrin toroid, and iron–clay surface, resulted in high adsorption affinity toward all pollutants; BPA was primarily adsorbed to the cyclodextrin functional groups, CBZ showed high affinity toward the Fe–MMT surface and the Fe–MMT−βCD–DFB composite, whereas PFOA was adsorbed mainly to the βCD–DFB polymer. Degradation, using H2O2, was highly efficient, reaching over 90% degradation in 1 h for BPA and CBZ and ∼80% for PFOA. The composite also showed excellent degradation efficiency in a multicomponent system with all three model pollutants. Furthermore, the composite’s activity remained steady for five consecutive cycles of adsorption and degradation. The ability to remediate a broad range of pollutants, and the high overall removal exhibited by this novel material, demonstrates the potential for future application in water remediation technologies.