A supramolecular assembly made with sulfobutylether-β-cyclodextrin and magnetic Fe3O4 showing water remediation properties.

In literature many examples of magnetic nanohybrids based on cyclodextrins are reported, but they often require multistep processes and preliminary synthetic efforts that affect the scale-up for the final application. In this work, a magnetic hybrid system was produced by supramolecular self-assembly between low-cost precursors: the sulfobutylether-β-cyclodextrin (Captisol®) and magnetic iron oxide-based nanoparticles (MNPs). The interaction between the two was elucidated by spectroscopic (FT-IR, XPS, μXRF) and imaging (TEM) techniques. The resulting MNPs@Captisol assembly was characterized by TGA and the magnetization properties compared. The colloidal features were evaluated by DLS measurements and an adapted turbidimetric analysis. Finally, a promising use of MNPs@Captisol as remediation agent against paraquat (chosen as a model of cationic pollutant), has been demonstrated. The sequestering mechanism was ascertained to be driven by electrostatic complexation.