Recyclable nitrogen-containing chitin-derived carbon microsphere as sorbent for neonicotinoid residues adsorption and analysis

•N-CCMP was waved with cross-linked carbonized chitin nanofibers.•The fabricated N-CCMP exhibited good affinity to the NPs.•N-CCMP can be qualified for the efficient adsorption of NPs from water and juice.•A green and rapid route for sorbent fabrication and NPs extraction was established. Chitin-derived three-dimensional nanomaterials has tremendous potential in pesticide residue analysis as an attractive green substitute for toxic solvents. The work presented herein focuses on constructing the environmentally friendly nitrogen-containing chitin-derived carbon microspheres (N-CCMP) for the efficient adsorption of neonicotinoid pesticides (NPs) including acetamiprid, clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam. The N-CCMP displayed hierarchical porous structure, uniform size distribution, and excellent specific surface area of 680.8 m2 g−1. The N-CCMP with N-heterocyclic ring structure and surface oxygen functional groups exhibited good affinity to NPs, which was beneficial for the rapid adsorption. Then, the N-CCMP were utilized as sorbent in extraction of NP residues. Under the optimum conditions, the relative recoveries in water and juice sample were in the range of 85 %–116 % and 74 %–108 %, with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of 0.1 %∼5.2 % and 0.7 %∼5.2 %, respectively. The extraction performance of N-CCMP were still over 80 % after 5 times of reuse.