High Adsorption Capability Research Articles

Green-synthesized Cu2O nanoaggregates incorporated on β-cyclodextrin for catalytic reduction and electrochemical sensing

Microwave-assisted methods are facile synthetic routes for the synthesis of nanoparticles. Cu2O nanoaggregates (Cu2O NA) were synthesized using Bauhinia purpurea (B. purpurea) leaf extract via microwave method. The incorporation of Cu2O NA in β-cyclodextrin generated Cu2O-β-CD nanocomposite (Cu2O-β-CD NC). The structure and morphology of the Cu2O-β-CD NC were investigated using characterization techniques like Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. The crystallines Cu2O NA and Cu2O-β-CD NC have size 30.65 and 19.73 nm, respectively. The Cu2O-β-CD NC revealed excellent catalytic activities for the reduction of nitro aromatic compounds in the presence of NaBH4. Gold electrode modified with Cu2O-β-CD NC is effective for the sensing levofloxacin. The electrocatalytic performance of the modified electrode was optimized, and the limit of detection was found to be 6.93 nM. The synergistic effect between the semiconductor Cu2O nanoaggregates and high adsorption capability of β-CD provided a better platform for the fast degradation of 4-nitrophenol and enhanced sensitivity for the determination of levofloxacin.

Activated carbon supported nanoscale zero valent iron for cooperative adsorption and persulfate-driven oxidation of ampicillin

Abstract Activated carbon supported nanoscale zero valent iron composites (AC-nZVI) were synthesized via chemical reduction for the efficient adsorption and catalytic oxidation of adsorbed pollutants. The compositions and properties of the composites were characterized by several characterization methods. The results indicated that the high adsorption and efficient catalyst loading capabilities could be attributed to the large surface area (826.543 m2/g) and high porosity (0.464 cm3/g) of the AC. Furthermore, nZVI had an excellent catalytic capability to activate persulfate (PS). Ampicillin was efficiently removal in PS/AC-nZVI system, which enhanced with increasing nZVI loading, catalyst dosage, and PS concentration. The AC-nZVI composites exhibited stable activity and minimal metal leakage over a period of five cycles. The activation energy of the system was 66.88 kJ/mol. Finally, the reaction mechanism and possible degradation pathways were elucidated based on intermediate analysis. The application of sulfate radical-based advanced oxidation processes in environmental remediation might be forwarded by the results of this work.

Highly Sensitive Gas-Sensing Films for Volatile Organic Acids from Imidazolium-Based Poly(ionic liquid)s.

Imidazolium-based poly(ionic liquid)s were synthesized and used as sensing film for the adsorption of volatile organic compounds. Based on a quartz crystal microbalance system, the sensing properties of the imidazolium-based poly(ionic liquid)s on volatile organic compounds was assessed according to the position of imidazolium cation in the polymer chain (the main-chain or side-chain type) and the varied counterions. The results indicated that the imidazolium-based poly(ionic liquid)s films have much higher adsorption capability on volatile organic acids than other volatile organic compounds, which is due to the strong affinity between imidazolium group and the carboxyl group. The position of imidazolium cation in the polymer chain and counterions of the imidazolium-based poly(ionic liquid)s was found to be able to influence the selectivity and sensitivity of volatile organic acids. The main-chain imidazolium-based poly(ionic liquid)s were shown strengthen the adsorption of propionic acid vapor, while the counter ion of dicyanamide showed the highest selectivity on volatile organic acids. Based on the quartz crystal microbalance sensing system, the imidazoliumbased poly(ionic liquid)s film was shown capable of detecting volatile organic acids with a theoretical detection limit of about 3.1 ppb and a quick recovery time less than 40 seconds. The sensing performance is also stable for repeated usage and after long-time storage.

Sustainable carboxylated cellulose filters for efficient removal and recovery of lanthanum

Carboxylated cellulose filters were fabricated by oxidation of a cellulose fibrous mat via TEMPO-mediated oxidation. These carboxylated cellulose filters were employed as sustainable filters for removal and recovery of lanthanum ions (La (III)) with high adsorption capability. The surface chemistry of the carboxylated cellulose fibers before and after adsorption of La (III) was investigated systematically. The distribution of La (III) on carboxylated cellulose fibers were explored by EDX mapping approach, which revealed that the adsorption occurred on both the surface and the internal structure of the cellulose fibers. The kinetics and isotherms of the adsorption were conducted to understand the adsorption mechanism of the carboxylated cellulose filter and to learn the maximum adsorption capacity for La (III) which was as high as 33.7 mg/g. The adsorption selectivity of the carboxylated cellulose filter for La (III) was determined when interfering ions including mono- and di-covalent ions were involved. The carboxylated cellulose filter exhibited high adsorption capability and high permeation flux evidenced by the breakthrough curves of the dynamic adsorption of La (III) under an extremely low pressure of 0.07 kPa. A variety of desorption reagents were selected to recover lanthanum from the carboxylated cellulose filter, where the optimized conditions for recovery were explored. Finally, a spiral wound cartridge of the carboxylated cellulose fibrous mat was fabricated and the removal and the recovery of La (III, 2.5 ppm) from massive lanthanum-containing water were demonstrated. It was very impressive that the high rejection ratio of 94.3% was achieved under the low pressure drop of 3.0 kPa remaining throughout the separation process, and the treated solution volume was high up to 21.4 L, which was about six-times higher than that of commercially available nanofibrous adsorption membranes, indicating that the carboxylated cellulose filter could be used as a highly efficient adsorption medium for industrial recovery of rare earth metals.

Ultrathin dodecyl-sulfate-intercalated Mg-Al layered double hydroxide nanosheets with high adsorption capability for dye pollution

A high-performance dye adsorbent of ultrathin dodecyl-sulfate (DS−) intercalated Mg-Al layered double hydroxide nanosheets (DI-LDH Ns) were controllably synthesized by a simple one-step surfactant-assisted hydrothermal method. The unique intercalated structure with week interlayer interaction and high accessible surface of DI-LDH Ns provide efficient adsorption of methyl orange (MO), leading to its superior performance with much higher uptake capability (846.6 mg/g at 298 K) and less adsorbing equilibrium time (5 min) than those of ultrathin DS−-surface-modified Mg-Al-LDH nanosheets (DM-LDH Ns, 327.4 mg/g at 298 K, 120 min) and original Mg-Al-LDH (O-LDH, 208.2 mg/g at 298 K, 120 min). The composition and structure of these LDHs were investigated by systematic physicochemical characterization, such as XRD, TEM, FT-IR, BET and TGA. The adsorption behavior of DI-LDH Ns follows the Langmuir isotherm equation. A plausible mechanism is proposed to explain the adsorption process of such DI-LDH Ns, in which the synergistic contributions of surface and interlayer adsorption between DI-LDH Ns and MO play an important role. This study puts forward a new thought for the development of high-performance LDH adsorbents with an ultrathin intercalated structure for the efficient and rapid removal of dyes.

One-pot fabrication of antibacterial β-cyclodextrin-based nanoparticles and their superfast, broad-spectrum adsorption towards pollutants

The current water treatment technology is still based on low energy efficient processes due to the complex composition of wastewater. To achieve high energy efficiency, many micro-porous materials with complex functional groups have been fabricated because of their high pollutant adsorption capabilities. In this work, antibacterial β-cyclodextrin-based nanoparticles (E-β-CDN) were prepared via one-pot method to explore their adsorption performance to pollutants in wastewater. The resulting nanoparticles exhibited superfast adsorption kinetics to pollutants with removal efficiency of over 95% within 10 s. The nanoparticles also presented broad-spectrum adsorption to organic pollutants and heavy metal ions, and their maximum adsorption capacity was 3289.6 mg g−1 towards methyl orange (MO) and 970.8 mg g−1 towards Pb(II), much higher than that of many other adsorbents. Easy cyclic adsorption-desorption was another distinguishing feature of the nanoparticles, whose removal efficiency to these pollutants hardly varied after 10 cycles of regeneration. Interestingly, the resulting nanoparticles showed prominent antibacterial activity of 99.99% bacterial inhibitive rate against both gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli) and gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). These results suggest that the resulting nanoparticles have great potential in the purification of the wastewater.

Facile synthesis of trimethylammonium grafted cellulose foams with high capacity for selective adsorption of anionic dyes from water

The increasing amount of dye discharge is imposing more stringent requirements on dye removal than ever before. In this work, a three-dimensional network structured cationic cellulose foam (CCF) with high dye adsorption capability and highly selective adsorption of anionic dyes is prepared through grafting and chemical crosslinking. It exhibits a maximum anionic dye Eosin Y (EY) adsorption capacity of 364.22 mg/g and a corresponding removal efficiency as high as 99.58 %. Besides, results indicate that the obtained CCF displays superior adsorption capability for anionic dyes, environmental adaptability, as well as high recyclability. The isothermal and kinetics of the dye adsorption highly match Langmuir and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, suggesting that anionic dyes are absorbed on CCF through chemical and monolayer action. All these merits demonstrate a simple, feasible and effective approach for the design and fabrication of cellulose foams with selective adsorption of anionic dyes from wastewater.

Study on synthesis of mesoporous carbon from MOF-199 metal-organic framework as potential adsorbent

Porous carbon material is one of the most common and very important for various applications thank to its high surface area and adsorption capability. In this study, mesoporous carbon was prepared by thermal decomposition of copper-based metal-organic framework MOF-199 under inert atmosphere and followed by immersing in diluted HNO3 solution in order to remove metal/metal oxide and activation of the resultant porous carbon. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that as-prepared material remained intact octahedral morphology of pre-pyrolysis MOF structure, and product has spongy structure with specific surface area of 375 m2/g as measured using N2 adsorption isotherm (BET), which can be employed as an effective adsorbent.

A Promising Superabsorbent Nanocomposite Based on Grafting Biopolymer/Nanomagnetite for Capture of 134Cs, 85Sr and 60Co Radionuclides

A new high-swelling multi-component superabsorbent composite Na-CMC-g-P(AMPS-co-AA-co-AM)/NanoFe3O4 (SANCHs) was successfully designed and utilized for effective removal of 134Cs, 85Sr and 60Co radionuclides from radioactive wastewater. The structure and morphology of the superabsorbent composite have been mapped and characterized using different techniques (SEM, XRD, TEM, FTIR, and TGA). Superabsorbent hydrogel composite networks with magnetic iron particles have been disclosed to provide an advantage over previous methods. By using distinct models for kinetic investigation, mathematical fitting was observed to be pseudo-second-order with (R2) 0.987, 0.999, and 0.998 respectively for 134Cs, 60Co, and 85Sr. In addition, the highest adsorption capability was found to be 23.9, 43, and 47.2 mg g−1 respectively. The variation in the magnitude of enthalpy (ΔH) and free energy (ΔG) verify the spontaneous state of the adsorption reaction suggesting an endothermic process. Such a functionalized magnetic nanocomposite adsorbent demonstrates excellent prospective applications for effective separation of certain radionuclides from radioactive liquid waste.

Low temperature catalytic reduction of NO over porous Pt/ZIF-8

In this work, metallic Pt has been dispersed on as synthesized ZIF-8, and the metal supported catalyst has been explored for NOx reduction. The synthesized materials crystallized in body centered cubic lattice with truncated cubic particle morphology, and the Pt nano-particles were observed in its highly dispersed state over the surface. Due to the high surface area, porosity, and basic imidazolate link ZIF-8 showed very high NO adsorption capability, which was further enhanced due to Pt dispersion on the material. The Pt dispersion on ZIF-8 also exhibited a very low temperature H2 dissociation. The Pt/ZIF-8 showed promising low temperature reduction of NOx with good recyclability and thermal stability compared to other zeolitic catalysts. The low temperature high reactivity has been ascribed to the high dispersion of the Pt nanoparticles and its interaction with the support ZIF-8.

Environmentally Friendly Treatment of Coal‐Bearing Kaolin by Polyhydroxy‐Iron for Anionic Dye Removal

AbstractClay material such as kaolin is considered great candidate in industrial water treatment due to its structural properties and abundancy. However, material treatment procedures aimed for adsorption efficiency improvement are generally energy consuming and causes secondary environment contaminations. In the present study, a cost‐effective kaolin modification technique based on polyhydroxy‐iron (PHFe(III)) treatment is applied to coal‐bearing kaolin clay (KC). The modified adsorbent (PHFe(III)/KC) shows a two fold increase in specific surface area and renders a 75 mg/g Congo Red (CR) dye uptake amount which significantly outperforms that of the raw KC (∼12 mg/g). Importantly, the modification process involves mild heating and gentle chemical reaction which is environmental benign, especially under large scale adsorbent treatment. The effect of the PHFe(III)/KC preparation conditions, adsorption time, the initial solution pH and the initial concentration of CR on the adsorption capacity of the adsorbents was investigated. Adsorbent characterization shows successful grafting of PHFe(III) which likely changes the surface property and increases the affinity between the adsorbent and organic dyes. The comparatively high dye adsorption capability and good regeneration shows promising application of PHFe(III)/KC in industrial waste water treatment.

Adsorption of iodate on nanosized tubular halloysite

Naturally occurring porous minerals as adsorbents for the remediation of environmental pollution has been one of the hot topics in environmental science and material science. In this study, the adsorption of iodate (IO3−) on two nanosized tubular halloysite samples (HBHal and SCHal, from Hubei and Sichuan Province, China, respectively) were investigated for the first time. To evaluate the impact of nanopore of halloysite on the adsorption of IO3−, chemically similar platy kaolinite was used for comparative studies in the batch experiments. The adsorption of IO3− on HBHal reached equilibrium within 36 h, and the adsorption kinetics and isotherm fitted the pseudo-second-order and Langmuir equation well, respectively. Both HBHal and SCHal exhibited high adsorption capability to IO3−, with distribution coefficients (Kd's) of 131.6 ± 14.6 and 126.6 ± 3.1 mL/g, respectively, which were >30 times higher than that for kaolinite (4.2 ± 2.3 mL/g). The specific surface area normalized Kd values on halloysite samples were >13.5-fold higher than that on kaolinite. In addition, halloysite had high selectivity to IO3−, and the adsorption capacities on the two halloysite samples were slightly affected by the concurrent anions, such as SO42−, NO3−, or ClO3−. It was proposed that the curved octahedral sheet caused geometry match between three oxygen atoms in the iodate and three OH above the vacant site of the octahedral sheet. This work also gave insight into the potential application of halloysite on the adsorption of radioactive iodate in natural and engineering environments.

Experimental and theoretical investigation of WOx modification effects on the photocatalytic activity of titanium-substituted hydroxyapatite

Titanium-substituted hydroxyapatite (Ti-HAp) is a potential photocatalyst with high adsorption capability for organic compounds. As described herein, the surface of Ti-HAp was modified by WOx. Photocatalytic decomposition activity on gaseous 2-propanol was increased by seven times by the modification. Little difference was obtained in the crystalline phase, specific surface area, and the light absorption edge between before and after the modification. However, photoluminescence emission intensity by UV irradiation was decreased by the modification. Results show that UV irradiation changed the valence number ratio of W cations under N2 atmosphere. Furthermore, first-principles simulations of molecular dynamics and electronic structure suggest that carrier separation is promoted by WOx clusters acting as a co-catalyst and suggest that those photoexcited electrons can be consumed by atmospheric oxygen. These experimental and theoretical investigations have demonstrated clearly that the photoexcited electrons can transfer from a Ti-hybridized band in Ti-HAp to WOx, thereby promoting charge separation.

Recyclable Ag-decorated highly carbonaceous magnetic nanocomposites for the removal of organic pollutants

Here, we report a novel fabrication of a magnetic carbon nanotube-reduced graphene oxide-silver nanocomposite for the adsorption and simultaneous catalytic reduction of two environmental pollutants. Fe3O4 nanoparticles were grown and anchored onto the multi-walled carbon nanotube (CNT) first to generate magnetic CNT (MCNT), which was further coated with polydopamine to enhance the stability of the Fe3O4 particles and introduce new functionalities on the surface. Hydrothermal treatment of the polydopamine-coated MCNT (PD-MCNT) with graphene oxide (GO) produced a highly carbonaceous reduced GO-PD-MCNT (rGO-PD-MCNT), which by itself exhibited very high adsorption capability. The catalytic property was integrated by depositing silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on the rGO-PD-MCNT by reducing Ag(I) ions. High catalytic efficacy besides fast and efficient adsorption of the as-synthesized nanocomposites was demonstrated at variable pH during the removal of a toxic model dye, methylene blue (MB), and an aromatic nitro compound, 4-nitrophenol (4-NP). The nanocomposites were found to be magnetically separable, easily regenerable through desorption using water and ethanol, and thus highly recyclable (more than 15 cycles). The rare combination of all these properties in a single scaffold makes this nanocomposite potentially useful in a wide range of engineering and environmental applications.

Cheap, reliable, reusable, thermally and chemically stable fluorinated hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets coated Au nanoparticles substrate for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy

In this study, multi-layered fluorinated hexagonal boron nitride nano-sheets (F-BN) coated gold-nanoparticles (AuNPs/glass) SERS-active substrate is presented. Thermal and chemical stabilities with reusability tests of F-BN/AuNPs/glass SERS-active substrate were performed. The AuNPs on glass substrate (AuNPs/glass) was first prepared by combining ion-sputtering technique with a rapid annealing treatment. Second step involved the spin coating of a thin film of F-BN as a shielding layer on AuNPs/glass substrate. It was seen that Raman performance of FBN/AuNPs/glass substrate is more stable and efficient as compared to bare AuNPs/glass substrate under strong chemical and oxidative environments. Moreover, outcome of cycle tests indicated that F-BN as a protecting layer, could recover the long-term stability of the bare AuNPs/glass SERS-active substrate. DFT based calculations were also performed and theory supported our experimental results that R6G on F-BN/glass has higher adsorption capability as compared to BN/glass. Consequently, our proposed multi-layered F-BN is found to be an excellent wrapping material on AuNPs/glass substrate for cost effective production and reliable fabrication of capable SERS. It is also useful for the detection of particular sensing molecules at high temperatures or in extreme acidic conditions that are too complicated to be analyzed by means of conventional SERS. Hence, our proposed method will promote the wider usage of functionalized BN/metal based SERS in multidisciplinary fields.

Ash based nanocomposites for photocatalytic degradation of textile dye pollutants: A review

Ash is a highly available industrial and agricultural waste by-product. Giving insights into the huge generation of ash and environmental concern of disposal issue, aesthetic attention has been drawn on the sustainable utilization of ash as a renewable supporting material in the synthesis of photocatalytic nanocomposites. Coal fly ash, rice husk ash and volcanic ash are currently being investigated for their potential to be applied as an effective precursor material for photocatalyst preparation, owing to their advantages of high adsorption capability, high ion-exchange capacity, significant specific surface area and high reusability. The novelty of these studies is that prepared ash based photocatalysts could provide a synergistic effect of the adsorption capacity of ash and the photocatalytic activity of photocatalysts to enhance the overall degradation efficiency of dye. Exploring the possible usage of these abundant by-products not only solving the environmental problem but also highlighting its further economic value of utilization with the concept of “waste to wealth”. This paper presents a fundamental information pertaining to the basic principles of photocatalysis and semiconductor based photocatalysts. A brief overview of the role of ash based nanocomposites in terms of the preparation methods and conditions, morphologies, physiochemical properties and their photocatalytic performances on the degradation of dye pollutants is highlighted. The optimization, mechanism and stability study are also reviewed. The finding showed that the porous structure and the presence of aluminosilicate in the ash greatly enhance the adsorption capacity of the total composite in the dye degradation process. The photocatalytic performance was dependent on the calcination temperature, catalyst loading, solution pH, initial dye concentration and light source. However, reusability test indicated the high stability of the prepared ash based composites, with most of the dye degradation efficiency greater than 80% even after a few successive regeneration cycles.

Bioinspired functionalization of MXenes (Ti3C2TX) with amino acids for efficient removal of heavy metal ions

MXenes are a novel type of two-dimensional (2D) materials that could be obtained from etching of Al atoms in layered hexagonal ternary carbide. These 2D materials display many outstanding physicochemical properties and are potentially utilized for various applications. Although previous reports demonstrated that MXenes and MXenes-based composites could be potentially utilized for environmental applications, the adsorption performance is limited and development of facile methods for synthesis MXenes-based composites with higher adsorption capability is of great importance. In this work, we reported for the first time that MXenes-based polymeric composites (Ti3C2TX-PDOPA) could be simply fabricated via mixing of MXenes (Ti3C2TX) and levodopa (DOPA) under rather mild reaction conditions. In this reaction system, DOPA could adhere on the surface of MXenes through self-polymerization and many carboxyl groups could thus introduce during the polymerization procedure to form poly (DOPA). The resultant Ti3C2TX-PDOPA composites were utilized as adsorbents and showed higher adsorption capacity in removal heavy metal ions as compared with that of raw Ti3C2TX. More importantly, Ti3C2TX-PDOPA composites could be further functionalized with other functional materials through subsequent reaction because many reactive functional groups were introduced on MXenes and various MXenes-based composites could be fabricated.

Preparation and Photocatalytic Properties of Graphene/SrTiO<sub>3</sub> Thin Film Catalyst

A novel graphene-bridged SrTiO3 (STO) thin film loaded on the glass was fabricated using a facile sol-gel method followed by the dip-coating and spin-coating method. As-prepared STO film and GO/STO film were tested by XRD, SEM to identify the composition and surface morphology. The as-prepared thin film catalyst was employed to degrade methylene blue (MB) in water under near ultraviolet ray irradiation. Compared to pure STO, GO/STO prepared by dip-coating method displayed good photocatalytic degradation efficiency with 58% removal of MB (60 mL, 5mg/L) in 6.0 h, the GO/STO prepared by spin-coating method displayed more superior degradation efficiency with 94% removal of MB (60 mL,5mg/L) in 6.0 h. The influences of MB volume and the different methods were also investigated in details. The enhanced photocatalytic activities could be attributed to the suppression of charge recombination, high specific surface area and great adsorption capability of GO/STO. This work provides a promising approach to construct novel film GO/STO with high stability and photodegradation efficiency that can be applied in efficient treatment pollutants in wastewater.

EDTA-modified mesoporous silica as supra adsorbent of copper ions with novel approach as an antidote agent in copper toxicity.

PurposeMesoporous silica (MS) have been considered as a biocompatible compound and found to have various pharmaceutical applications. Recently, novel approaches in applications of MS as antidote agents were introduced. In this study, the capacity of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid modified mesoporous silica (MS-EDTA) was evaluated in in vitro and in vivo adsorption of copper (Cu).MethodsThe MS-EDTA was characterized by fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and X-ray diffraction, while surface area was determined by N2 adsorption–desorption technique. Morphological studies were observed by high resolution-transmission electron microscopy and field emission-scanning electron microscopy and the sizes were determined by dynamic light scattering. The capacity of these particles for copper adsorption was investigated in vitro in both 1.2 and 7.2 pH. In in vivo animal study, the Cu adsorption efficiency of MS-EDTA in Cu-overdosed mice was evaluated. In this case, an animal model of acute copper poisoning was prepared.ResultsThe MS-EDTA with surface area of 352.35 was synthesized. Scanning electron microscope showed spherical particle formation with less than 500 nm in size. Transmission electron microscope images showed porous and honeycomb structure. FT-IR spectroscopy showed an appropriate formation of functional groups. Particle efficiency was investigated for Cu adsorption. MS-EDTA in both media showed a high adsorption capability for Cu (II) adsorption in pH=1.2 and pH=7.2. In addition, the study of Langmuir, Freundlich, and Redlich–Peterson adsorption models showed that copper adsorption by MS-EDTA followed the Freundlich model with multi-layer adsorption. In vivo evaluation showed that MS-EDTA could alleviate the symptoms of acute copper poisoning by lowering Cu plasma levels.ConclusionStructural evaluation showed successful formation of MS-EDTA. In vitro analysis demonstrated that supreme Cu adsorption occurs in both pH conditions (7.2 and 1.2), and was especially more favorable in simulated intestinal pH (7.2). The in vivo studies in animal models with acute Cu poisoning showed that MS-EDTA could be a potent antidote agent.

Semi-interpenetrating polymer network microspheres with superior dimensional stability as multifunctional antibacterial adsorbent materials

Wastewater containing positively-charged toxins and pathogenic bacteria can cause high environmental danger which seriously threatens human health. Fixed-bed column has emerged as a practical technique for water remediation owing to its simple operation, high efficiency and cost-effective implementation. However, how to prepare adsorbents with adequate dimensional stability, high adsorption capability and antibacterial property remains an open question. Herein, semi-interpenetrating network (Semi-IPN) microspheres were prepared by combining poly (ether sulfone) with poly (acrylic acid) (PAA) hydrogels via electrospraying technique coupled with subsequent in-situ cross-linking polymerization. Then, Ag nanoparticles were immobilized on the PAA hydrogels to endow the microspheres with antibacterial property. The as-prepared multifunctional microspheres exhibited superior dimensional stability. The compressive stress of the microspheres reached up to 17.90 MPa (with a strain of 60%), which was over 400-fold larger than that of the PAA hydrogels. The swelling ratio of the microspheres under pH 10 was 1.75 g/g and declined by 90.17% compared to that of the PAA hydrogels. Furthermore, the column filled with the microspheres showed ultrahigh removal ratios for positively-charged toxins (98.03%, 99.57%, 99.42% and 98.21% for methylene blue, Cu2+, Cd2+ and Pb2+, respectively) and robust bacterial killing efficiency (100% for either Escherichia coli or Staphylococcus aureus). Overall, we present a method on developing promising multifunctional hydrogel microspheres with enhanced antibacterial activities as well as adsorbent with higher adsorption capacities. We envision that the proposed multifunctional microspheres could overcome the limitations facing the fixed-bed column and be applied for treatment of water polluted by positively-charged toxins and pathogenic bacteria.