Cyclodextrin-derived materials: From design to promising applications in water treatment

Modern lifestyle and industrialization have caused huge pressure on the natural environment. Especially, all kinds of toxic organic and inorganic contaminants are released to aquatic systems, ultimately leading to water pollution and human health risks. Therefore, it is an urgent priority to develop effective strategies for removing these contaminants and realizing water recycling. Cyclodextrins have attracted attention in water treatment due to their precise recognition of molecules and ions. This current review summarizes the latest development of the cyclodextrin-derived materials for water treatment. Cyclodextrin-derived materials are obtained from cross-linking, immobilization or self-assembly to enhance their properties for contaminant removal. Cyclodextrin-derived materials interact with contaminants by host–guest, electrostatic, H-bonding, hydrophobic, and π-π stacking interactions. Further emphasis is put on the applications of cyclodextrin-derived materials for adsorption treatment of various organic and inorganic contaminants, catalytic degradation of organic contaminants, oil–water separation, and membrane separation. Finally, future research directions and challenges of cyclodextrin-derived materials are discussed and summarized. This review offers valuable insight on the development of cyclodextrin-derived materials for water treatment.