A Versatile Cationic Organic Network Adsorbent for the Highly Efficient Removal of Diverse Water Contaminants

Abstract

AbstractWater decontamination is of great importance to address the increasing shortage of water resources, ion‐exchange‐driven adsorption being one of the most efficient approaches to this aim. Despite the advances achieved in this field, particularly with the emergence of ionic organic networks as a new class of adsorbents for water treatment, the development of adsorbents with high performance is still highly desired. This paper describes the facile preparation of a new cationic organic network, denoted as CON‐LDU3, via a quaternization reaction between 1,2,4,5‐tetra(pyridin‐4‐yl)benzene and 1,4‐bis(bromomethyl)benzene. The cationic framework and abundant exchangeable Br− anions render CON‐LDU3 as a suitable adsorbent to capture anionic contaminants from water. CON‐LDU3 displays fast kinetics and high capacity for the removal of CrO42−, reaching the kinetic constant and maximum capacity values of 0.0539 g mg−1 min−1 and 232 mg g−1, respectively. Moreover, this adsorbent can be regenerated by simple washing with KBr solution, and it can be recycled for at least eight times. CON‐LDU3 also exhibits excellent performance in the adsorption of some emerging organic water contaminants such as orange G and diclofenac sodium. Therefore, this study demonstrates the high potential of CON‐LDU3 as a versatile adsorbent for water remediation.