Enantioselective Separation of Agricultural Fungicides Based on Chiral Hybrid Nanochannel Membranes

Chiral fungicides have been widely used for disease control in agricultural cultivation due to their advantages of high efficiency, low toxicity, high selectivity, and low residue. However, the enantiomers of chiral fungicides in the chiral environment often exhibit different physiological and biochemical properties and sometimes even diametrically opposite effects. This work modified the chiral alanine-functionalized pillar[5]arene within PET nanochannels. The binary hybridized nanochannel exhibits high selectivity for the chiral fungicide Propranolol, with a selectivity coefficient of 7.36, which is seven times higher than that of the LAP[5] nanochannel membrane. The mechanism of chiral selectivity was explored by COMSOL finite element simulation, which proves the high selectivity of the binary hybrid nanochannel originated from the high surface charge density of the nanochannel. This study provides a novel and effective method for the selective enrichment and release of chiral pesticides in green agriculture.