Efficient Mercury Capture Using Functionalized Porous Organic Polymer

TLDR

The primary challenge in materials design and synthesis is achieving the balance between performance and economy for real‑world application. The study develops a thiol‑functionalized porous organic polymer via free‑radical polymerization to provide a cost‑effective, high‑density chelating material for mercury capture and environmental remediation. The POP is synthesized by free‑radical polymerization, yielding a hierarchical porous structure with abundant thiol sites for mercury binding. The POP removes aqueous and airborne mercury with uptake capacities of 1216 and 630 mg g⁻¹, rapidly reducing 5 ppm mercury to 1 ppb in 10 min, and remains recyclable, stable across pH, and selective for toxic metals, owing to its hierarchical porosity and high thiol density.

Abstract

The primary challenge in materials design and synthesis is achieving the balance between performance and economy for real‐world application. This issue is addressed by creating a thiol functionalized porous organic polymer (POP) using simple free radical polymerization techniques to prepare a cost‐effective material with a high density of chelating sites designed for mercury capture and therefore environmental remediation. The resulting POP is able to remove aqueous and airborne mercury with uptake capacities of 1216 and 630 mg g −1 , respectively. The material demonstrates rapid kinetics, capable of dropping the mercury concentration from 5 ppm to 1 ppb, lower than the US Environmental Protection Agency's drinking water limit (2 ppb), within 10 min. Furthermore, the material has the added benefits of recyclability, stability in a broad pH range, and selectivity for toxic metals. These results are attributed to the material's physical properties, which include hierarchical porosity, a high density of chelating sites, and the material's robustness, which improve the thiol availability to bind with mercury as determined by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X‐ray absorption fine structure studies. The work provides promising results for POPs as an economical material for multiple environmental remediation applications.