A novel biodegradable β-cyclodextrin-based hydrogel for the removal of heavy metal ions

•Novel β-cyclodextrin-based gel (CAM) with three-dimensional network structure was obtained.•CAM hydrogel is biodegraded by Gloeophyllum trabeum.•The biodegradation efficiency of CAM reached 79.4% in Gloeophyllum trabeum.•CAM exhibited an excellent performance for Pb2+ and Cu2+. A novel biodegradable β-cyclodextrin-based gel (CAM) was prepared and applied to the removal of Cd2+, Pb2+ and Cu2+ ions from aqueous solutions. CAM hydrogel has a typical three-dimensional network structure, and showed excellent capability for the removal of heavy metal ions. The effect of different experimental parameters, such as initial pH, adsorbent dosage and initial metal ion concentration, were investigated. The adsorption isotherm data fitted well to the Freundlich model. The adsorption capacity was in the order Pb2+>Cu2+>Cd2+ under the same experimental conditions. The maximum adsorption capacities for the metal ions in terms of mg/g of dry gel were 210.6 for Pb2+, 116.41 for Cu2+, and 98.88 for Cd2+. The biodegradation efficiency of the resin reached 79.4% for Gloeophyllum trabeum. The high adsorption capacity and kinetics results indicate that CAM can be used as an alternative adsorbent to remove heavy metals from aqueous solution.