Removal of Dyes from Industrial Wastewater by Cucurbiturils

Abstract

Homolog mixture of basic molecules of cucurbiturils has been synthesized and cucurbit[6]uril (CU[6]) and cucurbit[8]uril (CU[8]) have been isolated by means of solvent extraction. Inclusion complexes of different acid, reactive and disperse dyes have been produced by them. CU[8] was decidedly more efficient in complex formation with all the studied dyes than CU[6]. Competitive complex formation between randomly methylated ß-cyclodextrin and the respective cucurbiturils with disperse dyes has been studied and superiority of CU[8] could be demonstrated. The complex forming efficiency of the cucurbiturils with acid and reactive dyes was markedly increased in the presence of Ca, Mg, K and Na ions, respectively, in water solution.