Porous β‐Cyclodextrin/Silver Microspheres for Efficient Removal of Organic Contaminants in Wastewater via Continuous‐Flow Reactors

Abstract The fabrication of efficient heterogeneous catalysts suitable for continuous‐flow reactors is a promising approach for scaling up organic contaminant removal from water. This study develops micrometer‐sized porous catalysts Ag@PCM (cyclodextrin porous microspheres loaded with silver nanoparticles) using β‐cyclodextrin (β‐CD) microspheres as the skeleton for silver loading. The porous structure of Ag@PCM facilitates reactant diffusion into its interior, enabling high catalytic rates, while the larger size ensures high flux in continuous‐flow reactors, addressing the efficiency‐size trade‐off. The β‐CD moieties enhance catalysis by capturing contaminants. Ag@PCM shows excellent catalytic performance for 4‐nitrophenol (4‐NP), methylene blue (MB), and rhodamine B (RhB), with apparent reaction rates k app of 5.5 × 10 −3 , 27.66 × 10 −3 , and 19.53 × 10 −3 s −1 , and turnover frequencies ( TOF s ) of 26.15, 114.19, and 232.53 h −1 , surpassing most catalysts. Ag@PCM maintains good performance across temperatures and achieves removal rates of 91.33% (4‐NP), 98.74% (MB), and 97.17% (RhB) after five cycles. This work demonstrates the potential of advanced catalysts for continuous‐flow reactors to enable large‐scale water pollutant removal.