Porous pillararene-based polymer as adsorbent and solid disinfectant for water treatment

Guizhou Xu; Pingping Yang; Yalan Zhang; Lin Sun; Xuejiao Hu; Wenrui Zhang; Yizhou Tu; Yuansong Tian; Aimin Li; Xianchuan Xie; Xueyuan Gu

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.140056

Porous pillararene-based polymer as adsorbent and solid disinfectant for water treatment

Chemosphere. 2023 Nov:341:140056. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.140056. Epub 2023 Sep 9.

Authors

Guizhou Xu¹, Pingping Yang¹, Yalan Zhang², Lin Sun¹, Xuejiao Hu¹, Wenrui Zhang¹, Yizhou Tu¹, Yuansong Tian¹, Aimin Li³, Xianchuan Xie⁴, Xueyuan Gu⁵

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, PR China.
² Key Laboratory of Poyang Lake Environment and Resource Utilization, Ministry of Education, School of Resources and Environment, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031, PR China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, PR China; Nanjing University & Yancheng Academy of Environment Protection Technology and Engineering, Nanjing, 210023, PR China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, PR China; Key Laboratory of Poyang Lake Environment and Resource Utilization, Ministry of Education, School of Resources and Environment, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031, PR China; Jiangxi Nanxin Environmental Protection Technology Co. LTD, Jiujiang City of Jiangxi Province, 330300, PR China; Nanjing University & Yancheng Academy of Environment Protection Technology and Engineering, Nanjing, 210023, PR China. Electronic address: 24255542@qq.com.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, PR China. Electronic address: xygu@nju.edu.cn.

PMID: 37696480
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.140056

Abstract

Pillararene polymers have been widely used as excellent adsorbents for water treatment, but pillararene polymers with ultra-high specific surface area and versatility are still rarely reported. Herein, a quaternary ammonium salt modified pillar [5] arene polymer, QPBP [5], with specific surface area of 1844 m² g^-1 was successfully synthesized. Since QPBP [5] has abundant different adsorption sites, it exhibits excellent performance for the simultaneously removal of organic pollutants with different charges from water. The selected three model pollutants, Rhodamine B (RhB, positively charged), Sulfamethazine (SMT, electrically neutral) and Fulvic acid (FA, negatively charged), could be rapidly and efficiently removed from water by QPBP [5] within 10 min, which are much faster than them by most of the reported adsorbents. RhB and SMT are mainly adsorbed through hydrophobic interactions with the QPBP [5] surface, while FA is mainly removed through ion exchange. In addition, QPBP [5] also showed excellent reusability and adsorption performance for the environmentally relevant concentration of pollutants. Furthermore, the quaternary ammonium groups on QPBP [5] makes it a solid disinfectant with excellent antibacterial properties. In conclusion, QPBP [5] is a promising multifunctional adsorbent for the treatment of complex pollutants in water.

Keywords: Adsorption; Disinfection; High surface area; Multifunctionality; Pillararene polymer.

MeSH terms

Disinfectants* / pharmacology
Environmental Pollutants*
Polymers
Porosity
Water Purification*

Substances

Disinfectants
Environmental Pollutants
Polymers