Imidacloprid is one of the most widely used soluble neonicotinoid insecticide, which is non–volatile and persists in the soil, with hazardous effects on birds, honeybees, and mammals. It is used in both agricultural and veterinary applications, and is found in at least 7% of European topsoils. One of the commercially available formulations is Confidor O–TEQ that exhibits higher retention, spreading, and penetration capacity being in form of an oil suspension. In this work, porous materials based on cyclodextrin nanosponges (CDNSs) were developed for the efficient removal of imidacloprid. In the synthesis of CDNSs, α– and β–cyclodextrin and two diamine monomers, hexane–1,6–diamine (HDA) and dodecane–1,12–diamine (DDA) were used.

It was found that linkers with longer aliphatic chains resulted in CDNSs with higher thermal stability and crosslinking degree. αCD2–HDA and βCD2–HDA showed superior sorption efficiency for Confidor O–TEQ, as evaluated by kinetic and equilibrium sorption analyses at optimal conditions. To better understand the effects of monomer chain length and type of cyclodextrin, the sorption performance of αCD and βCD, αCD–HDA and βCD–HDA, αCD–DDA and βCD–DDA, dimeric αCD2–HDA and βCD2–HDA, and αCD2–DDA and βCD2–DDA with imidacloprid was also investigated by atomistic molecular dynamics simulations. Relevant contact patterns based on the identification of the stabilizing/destabilizing noncovalent interactions within the CD-based complexes were described in detail. Results suggest that significant modulation of the sorption performance of CDNSs for imidacloprid can be achieved by imposing various features, with direct implications for the rational design of supramolecular materials with high sorption capacity for pesticides.

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Jenny
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Journal of Nano Research & Applications