Covalent organic polymer functionalized activated carbon: A novel material for water contaminant removal and CO2 capture

摘要

Covalent organic polymers (COPs) have emerged as one of the leading advanced materials for environmental applications, such as the capture and recovery of carbon dioxide and the removal of contaminants from polluted water. COPs exhibit many remarkable properties that other leading advanced materials do not all-encompassing possess. Moreover, COPs have proven to be extremely stable in a wide variety of conditions, i.e. extremely high temperatures and boiling water for weeks at a time, which make them ideal for environmental applications; ranging from CO2 capture and recovery to organic solvent uptake in concentrated streams to metal and organic pollutant adsorption in contaminated waters. However, given the nanoscale structure of these COPs, real-world application has yet remained elusive for these materials. Herein, we report the functionalization of COPs onto the surface of activated carbon granules; through a series of surface modification techniques, followed by the synthesis of a COP “shell” around the carbon granule. Activated carbon, established as one of the cheapest and most effective environmental remediation materials of all time, provides the perfect base material for the attachment of COPs onto a material large enough to be able to be used in a packed-bed column. These columns can then be applied to the exhaust flue gas stream from a power plant or as a flow-through water treatment column. Furthermore, by impregnating nanoscale zero valent iron (nZVI) inside the COP matrix, these columns can subsequently degrade organic contaminants, e.g. halogenated solvents, azo dyes, antibiotics, etc., during the water treatment process. A first of its kind, activated carbon with a COP-functionalized shell provides a robust and regenerate-able material with the durability and versatility for a wide range of environmental applications.