Water-insoluble β-cyclodextrin-epichlorohydrin polymers for removal of pollutants from aqueous solutions by sorption processes using batch studies: A review of inclusion mechanisms

Although water-insoluble cyclodextrin-epichlorohydrin polymers have been known for half a century, these materials are of continued interest to the scientific community, in particular for their interesting environmental applications as sorbents in liquid-solid sorption processes. However, in spite of the abundance of literature and conclusive results obtained at the laboratory scale, interpreting the mechanisms of pollutant elimination remains an interesting source of debate and sometimes of contradiction. This review summarizes and discusses the various mechanisms proposed in the literature. A distinction was made in the description of these interactions depending on whether the polymer structures were modified or not.