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[Display omitted] • A chitosan-based hydrogel with non-cytotoxicity and good fluorescence property. • The novel hydrogel simultaneously had effective detection and adsorption abilities. • Maximum adsorption capacity of this hydrogel for tetracycline reached 541.3 mg/g. • The hydrogel had sensitive detection ability with a detection limit of 0.12 μg/L. Antibiotics are classified as a severe cause of water contamination. Therefore, there is a great demand for an efficient and non-toxic adsorbent for antibiotics. In this study, a non-toxic chitosan-based hydrogel (CH) was developed using cellulose nanocrystals (CNs) and carbon dots (CDs). This CH had strong sorption ability (a maximum sorption capacity of 541.3 mg/g) and sensitive detection ability (linear ranges of 0.2–1.0 μg/L and 1–200 mg/L, and a detection limit of 0.12 μg/L) for tetracycline (TC). The physical and chemical structures, cytotoxicity, TC sorption and detection abilities of the CH were studied. Sorption and detection mechanisms were proposed. The study revealed that CNs offered a skeleton structure for improving the adsorption ability, and the CDs served as remarkable fluorescent probes for detecting TC with high selectivity and sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A novel wood-derived nanocellulose hydrogel with gold nanoclusters was prepared. • This hydrogel simultaneously has effective adsorption and detection abilities. • Maximum sorption capacity of this hydrogel for Hg(II) ion reached 234.4 mg/g. • The hydrogel had sensitive detection ability with the detection limit of 0.09 μg/L. • Electrostatic, metallophilic and complexation interactions worked for sorption. A wood-derived nanocellulose hydrogel (WNH) with gold nanoclusters (Au NCs) was prepared by in situ multistep reactions, which was used as an effective adsorbent for the adsorption of mercury ion (Hg2+) and a solid-state fluorescent probe for detecting Hg2+. The WNH's morphology, chemical structure and optical properties were investigated. The adsorption performance of WNH towards the Hg2+ ion was studied, indicating that the sorption data were well fitted by Langmuir and pseudo-second-order models with a maximum sorption capacity of 234.4 mg/g. The detection performance of WNH towards the Hg2+ ion was also investigated, showing excellent selectivity and sensitivity to Hg2+ with a detection limit of 0.09 μg/L. The 3D porous structure created by wood-derived nanocellulose increased adsorption and detection, according to the mechanism analysis. Furthermore, a cost analysis was performed for WNH and commercial activated carbon, and the results showed that WNH was the economically viable option for Hg2+ sorption. This research could pave the way for a low-cost, multi-functional and environmentally friendly mercury adsorbent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [Display omitted] • A non-toxic molecularly imprinted hydrogel with good fluorescence property. • The novel hydrogel simultaneously had effective adsorption and detection abilities. • Carbon dots in the 3D porous structure enhanced fluorescent detection sensitivity. • Carbon dots facilitated amino group-induced adsorption of tetracycline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]