Preparation of POSS-poly(ɛ-caprolactone)-β-cyclodextrin/Fe3O4 hybrid magnetic micelles for removal of bisphenol A from water

A novel amphiphilic star-shaped inorganic–organic hybrid copolymer polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane-poly(ɛ-caprolactone)-β-cyclodextrin (POSS-PCL-β-CD) was synthesized by ring-opening polymerization (ROP) and click chemistry. The amphiphilic copolymer can self-assemble into hybrid micelles with hydrophobic POSS-PCL chain encapsulating Fe3O4 nanoparticles as the core and β-CD as the shell after mixing with Fe3O4 nanoparticles in solvent and dialysis against water. The chemical structure of POSS-PCL-β-CD was characterized by 1H NMR and the morphology of the magnetic hybrid micelles was characterized by TEM and DLS. Due to the host–guest interaction of β-CD with bisphenol A (BPA), POSS-PCL-β-CD/Fe3O4 hybrid micelles present good adsorption capacity in removal of BPA from aqueous solution. Magnetic measurement reveals that POSS-PCL-β-CD/Fe3O4 hybrid micelles still exhibit magnetism for separation by an external magnetic field, indicating that these magnetic hybrid micelles may have potential application in the field of environmental protection.