Non-toxic fluorescent molecularly imprinted hydrogel based on wood-derived cellulose nanocrystals and carbon dots for efficient sorption and sensitive detection of tetracycline

For clean, effective, and high value-added use of wood, a novel non-toxic fluorescent molecularly imprinted hydrogel (FMIH) was prepared based on wood-derived cellulose nanocrystals and carbon dots for efficient sorption and sensitive detection of tetracycline (TC). The FMIH’s morphology, chemical structure, optical properties and non-cytotoxicity were investigated. The adsorption performance of FMIH toward TC was studied, indicating that the sorption data were well fitted by the Langmuir and Pseudo-second-order models, and the maximum sorption capacity was 544.4 mg/g. An evaluation of the detection performance of FMIH toward TC showed its excellent selectivity and sensitivity to TC with the detection limit of 0.11 μg/L. Mechanism analysis confirmed that the efficient sorption and sensitive detection was due to specific molecular recognition sites introduced by wood-derived cellulose nanocrystals and carbon dots. Moreover, a cost analysis performed for FMIH and commercial activated carbon (CAC) showed that the cost of removing 1 g of TC using FMIH was almost thirty-four times cheaper than that of CAC. This work could provide a new way for using wood to produce a low-cost, multifunctional, and green adsorbent for removing antibiotics.