Preparation and adsorption properties of laponite–cyclodextrin complex

Laponite–cyclodextrin complex was synthesised by amidation of carboxylated cyclodextrin and amine-modified laponite, which were first modified by amine-terminated silane coupling agents with different chain lengths and functional groups. The structures of the laponite before and after modification were characterised by Fourier transform infrared and proton nuclear magnetic resonance. The effect of the silane coupling agents on the loading amounts of cyclodextrin onto laponite was investigated by thermogravimetric analyser. The results showed that the loading amounts of cyclodextrin and silane coupling agents increased with the increasing chain lengths and the decreasing alkoxyl groups of silane coupling agents. The laponite–cyclodextrin complexes gathered the advantages of adsorbing aromatic organic compounds by cyclodextrin via host–guest inclusion interaction and adsorbing metal ions by laponite via ion exchange. The laponite–cyclodextrin complex presents great applications in the aspect of wastewater treatment.