Extraordinary Capability for Water Treatment Achieved by a Perfluorous Conjugated Microporous Polymer

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 5; no. 1; p. 10155
• Main Authors: Yang, Rui-Xia, Wang, Ting-Ting, Deng, Wei-Qiao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 14.05.2015; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 119/118; 121/135; 140/131; 639/301/923/1028; 639/638/298/923/1028; 639/638/455/954; 704/172/169; Adsorption; Dyes; Heavy metals; Humanities and Social Sciences; Lead; Metal ions; multidisciplinary; Oils & fats; Organic solvents; Pollutants; Polymers; Porous materials; Purification; Science; Solvents; Water pollution; Water purification; Water resources; Water treatment
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/srep10155

Oils, organic solvents, dyes and heavy metal ions are primary pollutants in water resources. Currently, no sorbent material can effectively remove these types of pollutants simultaneously. Here we report a perfluorous conjugated microporous polymer with superhydrophobicity and a large surface area, which exhibits outstanding adsorption capacities, kinetics and recyclability for a wide range of organic solvents, oils, dyes and heavy metal ions. The adsorption capacities of this polymer, 1376.7 mg g −1 for Congo red, 808.2 mg g −1 for Pb(II) and 303.2 mg g −1 for As(V), are higher than the adsorption capacities of any previously described porous materials. Our theoretical calculation reveals that the superior properties of this polymer are due to fluorination and triple bonds within the polymer. A benchmark experiment indicates that this polymer can efficiently remove these pollutants simultaneously. Application of this polymer may lead to the development of next-generation reusable and portable water purification appliances.