Resumen:
Cyclodextrin (CD) hydrogels were synthesized by a crosslinking reaction with the same cyclodextrin/epichlorohydrin mole ratio (1/11) using alphaCD, ßCD, gammaCD, and 50:50 mixtures of alpha/ßCD and ß/gammaCD. In order to investigate the sorption capacity of these hydrogels to different solutes, five model molecules have been selected: phenol, 3-nitrophenol, 4-nitrophenol, 1-naphthol, and the antiinflamatory drug diflunisal. The amounts sorbed have been related to the different affinities of the solutes. 1-naphthol shows the highest affinity for these polymers, especially in the case of sorbents containing ßCD. The sorption is considerably poorer for phenol than for its nitro derivatives. The two structural isomers 3- and 4-nitrophenol show significant differences in their affinities towards alphaCD, ßCD and alpha/ßCD. Finally, in the case of diflunisal, a bulkier model molecule, remarkable differences were found on the sorption behaviour by polymers whose cyclodextrins have a similar affinity for this solute (ßCD, gammaCD, and ß/gammaCD).