A novel magnetic surface molecularly imprinted photocatalyst (mCSp-TiO2-SMIPs) for the targeted photodegradation of potentially hazardous salicylic acid under visible light: Providing valuable insights into enhancing photocatalyst performance using n

• A novel magnetic surface molecularly imprinted photocatalyst (mCSp-TiO 2 -SMIPs) was developed. • mCSp-TiO 2 -SMIPs was capable of targeted adsorption of SA while enabling effective photodegradation. • Introduction of CSp greatly enhanced adsorption and photodegradation ability of mCSp-TiO 2 -SMIPs. • mCSp-TiO 2 -SMIPs showed promising potential for degrading SA in complex aquatic environments. • This study provided valuable insights into the use of CSp to enhance photocatalyst performance Salicylic acid (SA) is one of the most common compounds in pharmaceutical and personal care products, representing a potentially harmful pollutant in aquatic environments. This study presents the first development of a magnetic surface molecularly imprinted photocatalyst (mCSp-TiO 2 -SMIPs) that used cattail sporopollenin (CSp) as a natural carbon hybrid material and skeleton support for the selective adsorption and efficient photodegradation of SA in complex aquatic environments. The hybridization of CSp with TiO 2 increased the light utilization rate, enhanced the transport speed of photogenerated carriers, and significantly improved the photocatalytic performance. In addition, the spherical cage-like structure of CSp along with abundant functional groups facilitated the loading of surface molecularly imprinted polymers, which provided a large number of imprinted sites for SA adsorption onto the photocatalyst surface, thus improving the selective degradation efficiency of SA. Compared with some previously reported photocatalysts, mCSp-TiO 2 -SMIPs exhibited more effective performance in SA degradation. Furthermore, mCSp-TiO 2 -SMIPs demonstrated promising application prospects in a wide pH range and various water matrices. Overall, the novel photocatalyst mCSp-TiO 2 -SMIPs developed in this study showed great potential for degrading SA in complex aquatic environments. Also, this study provided valuable insights into the utilization of natural sporopollenin to enhance photocatalyst performance.