Super-adsorbent material based on functional polymer particles with a multilevel porous structure

Abstract

Porous polymer particles with multilevel structures consisting of submicron-sized hollow cavities and interconnected mesopores within the crosslinked shell were designed and prepared. An extremely high density of anhydride groups in the crosslinked shell can be conveniently converted into versatile functional groups for the adsorption of hazardous pollutants. As a proof of concept, we utilized carboxylate-functionalized hollow particles as a selective adsorbent for the removal of the basic dye methylene blue and found that these particles exhibited a very high adsorption capacity (1603 mg g−1). Furthermore, the hollow structure, highly interconnected mesopores and rigid shell of the particles not only endow the adsorbent with fast adsorption/desorption rates but also facilitate their facile separation and easy regeneration. We believe that these porous polymer particles have great potential for applications in many fields, including as adsorbents, catalyst supports and matrices for the binding of sensitive materials. Submicron porous polymer particles with a multilevel structure can adsorb more than 1.5 times their own weight of dye. Super-adsorbent materials are needed for removing pollutants from contaminated water among other applications. Now, Wantai Yang of Beijing University of Chemical Technology in China and co-workers have produced particles that have hollow cores, a network of pores in their shells, and three-dimensional networks formed by cross-linking. The combination of this multilevel structure and their extremely high density of anhydride groups make the particles ideal for mopping up pollutants. The researchers demonstrated the particles' potential by achieving an adsorption capacity of 1,603 milligrams per gram for the dye methylene blue. As well as finding application as adsorbents for heavy-metal ions, these particles could be used as a catalyst support and a matrix for binding sensitive materials. Multilevel structured porous polymer particles, consisting of submicron hollow cavities and crosslinked shell with interconnected mesopores, are specially designed, prepared and served as super-adsorbent materials. As a proof of concept, we applied the carboxylate-functionalized hollow particles as selective adsorbent for the removal of basic dye methylene blue. Because of their extremely high functional group density and unique strucutre, the as-designed particles show super adsorption capacity (1603 mg g−1 for methylene blue), ultra fast adsorption/desorption rates, facile separation and easy regeneration.