Fabrication of photo-responsive cellulose based intelligent imprinted material and selective adsorption on typical pesticide residue

Abstract

Recently, removal of trace hazardous organic contaminants in the water is still a challenge work and attracting a growing number of concerning. Herein, a photo-responsive cellulose based intelligent imprinted material (PR-Cell-MIP) was fabricated through SI-ATRP (surface-initiates atom transfer radical polymerization) and employed for the selective adsorption of a typical pesticide residue, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D). The characterization results showed that the obtained PR-Cell-MIP displayed 2-D petal-like laminar sheet and owned ample functional groups such as N = N, COCl and –COOH. The photo-responsive tests confirmed the excellent photo-isomerization property of PR-Cell-MIP, leading to a satisfactory regeneration during the 2,4-D adsorption. Batch adsorption experiments demonstrated that the 2,4-D adsorption followed Frendlich adsorption isotherm. Meanwhile, the higher equilibrium template bindings (89.03%), lower specific binding constant KD (11.601 mg L−1) and apparent maximum number Qmax (11.039 mg g−1) suggested much higher adsorption performance of PR-Cell-MIP than that of the non-imprinted polymer (PR-Cell-NIP). The selectivity experiments revealed that PR-Cell-MIP presented better specificity towards 2,4-D than its structural analogues. In addition, the PR-Cell-MIP also displayed outstanding stability, reusability (8 cycles) and green regeneration. Furthermore, the selective adsorption and green regeneration were attributed to the exposure and blockage of specific recognition sites, allowing the precise and reversible switching of the host-guest interaction between receptor sites and 2,4-D. These findings will provides a fundamentally technical basis for the remediation of the trace hazardous pollutants.