Resumen: Aiming at the development of a greener ethylene removal alternative, the goal of this study was to scale up and ensure the safety of α-cyclodextrin nanosponges (α-CD-NS) for further use as ethylene scavengers. The solvent-free synthesis of α-CD-NS was successfully scaled up using α-cyclodextrin and N,N′-carbonyldiimidazole as cross-linkers (1:4 molar ratio) by means of mechanical alloying using a PM 100 ball mill by focusing on varying the rotation frequency, as determined by FTIR-ATR, X-ray diffraction, and TGA. α-CD-NS washing optimization was performed in water by monitoring the imidazole concentration in the washing solution through the validation of a fast and sensitive HPLC-DAD method. After 6 h at 40 °C, all imidazole was extracted, allowing a faster and less energy-dependent extraction. α-CD-NS absorbent capacity and porosity were also evaluated through BET isotherms and ethylene absorption experiments using α-CD-NS and commercially available absorbents (zeolite and bentonite) were performed by means of gas chromatography (GC) coupled to a flame ionization detector (FID). With a 93 µL h−1 kgadsorbent−1 ethylene removal capacity, α-CD-NS revealed the best ethylene scavenging activity when compared to the other absorbents, opening the doors for a safer, innovative, and eco-friendlier ethylene removal active packaging. Idioma: Inglés DOI: 10.3390/nano12172900 Año: 2022 Publicado en: Nanomaterials 12, 17 (2022), 2900 [16 pp.] ISSN: 2079-4991 Factor impacto JCR: 5.3 (2022) Categ. JCR: PHYSICS, APPLIED rank: 39 / 160 = 0.244 (2022) - Q1 - T1 Categ. JCR: NANOSCIENCE & NANOTECHNOLOGY rank: 51 / 107 = 0.477 (2022) - Q2 - T2 Categ. JCR: CHEMISTRY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY rank: 58 / 178 = 0.326 (2022) - Q2 - T1 Categ. JCR: MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY rank: 110 / 343 = 0.321 (2022) - Q2 - T1 Factor impacto CITESCORE: 7.4 - Chemical Engineering (Q1) - Materials Science (Q1)