Engineering photo cross-linked porous network for efficient and selective removal of toxicants from wastewater

Abstract

This article delineates the UV curable synthesis of an organogel based on thiol-norbornene click chemistry. Characterisations of the material are accomplished by standard analytical and spectroscopic techniques. Rheological measurements suggest the presence of elasticity, which is one of the characteristic features of a gel system. The organogel is found to be mechanically and thermally stable. In particular, the gel shows excellent efficiency towards the removal of cationic dyes from aqueous phase. Additionally, the adsorption results fit with pseudo second order kinetics as well as Langmuir adsorption isotherm model with good correlation. DFT calculations suggest the favourable interaction energy between the dyes and the gel as the defining parameter for the selective uptake of cationic dyes by the gel. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report unfolding the excellent efficiency of norbornene based photo cross-linked network towards removal of toxic dyes that are regularly discharged from textile and paint industries. Further, minimum water uptake during dye removal process keeps maximum amount of water available for future usage thereby making it an inexpensive material that has potential applications in toxic organic dye containing wastewater treatment.