pH-controlled quaternary ammonium herbicides capture/release by carboxymethyl-β-cyclodextrin functionalized magnetic adsorbents: Mechanisms and application

• The carboxymethyl-β-cyclodextrin functionalized magnetic adsorbents were synthesized.
• The adsorbents could capture or release quaternary ammonium herbicides by changing pH.
• The adsorbents were applied in the analysis of real water samples.
• There is no attendance of organic solvents in the whole analysis process.

In our work, the pH-controlled magnetic solid phase extraction for the determination of paraquat and diquat was introduced firstly. Furthermore, to clarify the mechanism of carboxymethyl-β-cyclodextrin functionalized magnetic adsorbents, we studied the pH-responsive supramolecular interaction between carboxymethyl-β-cyclodextrin (CM-β-CD) and paraquat/diquat by ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiment, and the energy-minimized structures were also obtained. Then, the functional group CM-β-CD was modified on the surface of magnetic materials to synthesize the adsorbent. The Fourier transform infrared spectrum (FT-IR) results proved the successful modification of CM-β-CD. Thus, this absorbent was applied for the determination of paraquat and diquat in water. Under the optimal condition, limits of detection (LODs) of paraquat and diquat were 0.8 μg L−1 and 0.9 μg L−1, relative standard deviations (RSD) and recoveries varied 0.7–4.6% and 86.5–106.6%, respectively. Good recoveries (70.2–100.0%) and low RSD (1.7–9.6%) were achieved in analyzing spiked water samples. Furthermore, with the capillary electrophoresis (CE) as the analyser, the whole analytical process did not need the attendance of organic solvents.

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