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which the main barrier of their use lies in the difficulty associated with their regeneration and rapid saturation, respectively, a large interdisciplinary effort has been
devoted to the study of new materials including cyclodextrin-based products with
unique adsorption and desorption mechanisms. In 2013, we published a historical
review of this subject covering the last 50 years (Morin-Crini and Crini 2013).
8.4 Elimination of Environmental Contaminants Using
Cross-Linked Cyclodextrin Polymers as Adsorbents
8.4.1 Early Works
As already mentioned, in the mid-1990s, thanks to a collaboration between the
University of Lille (Professor Morcellet and Dr. Martel) and the G. Ronzoni Institute
(Dr. Torri, Dr. Vecchi and Dr. Crini), our group has begun to focus on ECP materials. This Franco-Italian research program has been supported by several French and
Italian industrialists. The objectives were to produce a series of ECP materials with
the desired characteristics (e.g., a well-defined spherical size and shape, degree of
swelling, cyclodextrin content) and to find applications in gel inclusion chromatography (separation of various natural products), the oil industry (complexation of
aromatic pollutants), and textile (complexation of dyes), paper (incorporation in the
pulp), tobacco (incorporation in the filters), and personal care and hygiene (superabsorbent polymers to treat odors) sectors (Shao et al. 1996; Crini et al. 1998a, b,
2000; Vecchi et al. 1998; Bertini et al. 1999). At the end of the 1990s, this work was
continued at the University of Besançon (France) by Dr. Crini, and a friendly and
fruitful collaboration was then established between the three research groups. In the
mid-2000s, our research focused on the use of ECP materials in water treatment.
8.4.2 Organics and Dye Removal
For nearly 30 years, our group has been studying the use of ECP materials as adsorbents for the elimination of target contaminants (e.g., aromatic and phenolic substances, dye molecules, metals, anions, pesticides) from synthetic solutions or real
effluents, for the treatment of multi-contaminated waters produced by industries
such as textile, paper, wood, and surface finishing treatment and more recently for
the cleanup of domestic waters and groundwater contaminated by so-called emerging chemicals such as endocrine disruptors.
Our first paper was published in 1996 (Shao et al. 1996) and presented the same
year at the Eight International Cyclodextrin Symposium in Budapest. This work
was the result of a collaboration between the G. Ronzoni Institute, the University of
Lille, and the Textile Technology Center (Canada). We have shown that ECP
8 Water-Insoluble Cyclodextrin-Epichlorohydrin Polymers
which the main barrier of their use lies in the difficulty associated with their regeneration and rapid saturation, respectively, a large interdisciplinary effort has been
devoted to the study of new materials including cyclodextrin-based products with
unique adsorption and desorption mechanisms. In 2013, we published a historical
review of this subject covering the last 50 years (Morin-Crini and Crini 2013).
8.4 Elimination of Environmental Contaminants Using
Cross-Linked Cyclodextrin Polymers as Adsorbents
8.4.1 Early Works
As already mentioned, in the mid-1990s, thanks to a collaboration between the
University of Lille (Professor Morcellet and Dr. Martel) and the G. Ronzoni Institute
(Dr. Torri, Dr. Vecchi and Dr. Crini), our group has begun to focus on ECP materials. This Franco-Italian research program has been supported by several French and
Italian industrialists. The objectives were to produce a series of ECP materials with
the desired characteristics (e.g., a well-defined spherical size and shape, degree of
swelling, cyclodextrin content) and to find applications in gel inclusion chromatography (separation of various natural products), the oil industry (complexation of
aromatic pollutants), and textile (complexation of dyes), paper (incorporation in the
pulp), tobacco (incorporation in the filters), and personal care and hygiene (superabsorbent polymers to treat odors) sectors (Shao et al. 1996; Crini et al. 1998a, b,
2000; Vecchi et al. 1998; Bertini et al. 1999). At the end of the 1990s, this work was
continued at the University of Besançon (France) by Dr. Crini, and a friendly and
fruitful collaboration was then established between the three research groups. In the
mid-2000s, our research focused on the use of ECP materials in water treatment.
8.4.2 Organics and Dye Removal
For nearly 30 years, our group has been studying the use of ECP materials as adsorbents for the elimination of target contaminants (e.g., aromatic and phenolic substances, dye molecules, metals, anions, pesticides) from synthetic solutions or real
effluents, for the treatment of multi-contaminated waters produced by industries
such as textile, paper, wood, and surface finishing treatment and more recently for
the cleanup of domestic waters and groundwater contaminated by so-called emerging chemicals such as endocrine disruptors.
Our first paper was published in 1996 (Shao et al. 1996) and presented the same
year at the Eight International Cyclodextrin Symposium in Budapest. This work
was the result of a collaboration between the G. Ronzoni Institute, the University of
Lille, and the Textile Technology Center (Canada). We have shown that ECP
8 Water-Insoluble Cyclodextrin-Epichlorohydrin Polymers