Novel N-rich porous organic polymers with extremely high uptake for capture and reversible storage of volatile iodine.

The imino group-contained porous organic polytriphenylamine, which originated from diphenylamine and 1,3,5-tris(4-bromophenyl)benzene, was designedly synthesized though Buchwald-Hartwig coupling reaction. The basic properties including morphologies, structure and thermal stability of the resulting POPs were investigated by scanning electron microscope(SEM), thermo gravimeter analysis (TGA), 13C CP/MAS solid state NMR and Fourier transform infrared spectroscope (FTIR). The pore size distribution of POPs present uniform mesoporous of sizes less than 50nm. Scanning electron microscope images show that the resulting POPs formed as an aggregation composed of nanospheres. The POPs were employed as a physicochemical stable porous medium for removal of radioactive iodine and an iodine uptake of up to 382wt% was obtained. To our knowledge, this is one of the highest adsorption value reported to date. Based on these findings, the resulting POPs shows great potential in the removal of radioactive iodine at different states, through a green, environmentally friendly, and sustainable way.

Capture and Reversible Storage of Volatile Iodine by Novel Conjugated Microporous Polymers Containing Thiophene Units.

Conjugated microporous polymers having thiophene building blocks (SCMPs), which originated from ethynylbenzene monomers with 2,3,5-tribromothiophene, were designedly synthesized through Pd(0)/CuI catalyzed Sonogashira-Hagihara cross-coupling polymerization. The morphologies, structure and physicochemical properties of the as-synthesized products were characterized through scanning electron microscope (SEM), thermogravimeter analysis (TGA), (13)C CP/MAS solid state NMR and Fourier transform infrared spectroscope (FTIR) spectra. Nitrogen sorption-desorption analysis shows that the as-synthesized SCMPs possesses a high specific surface area of 855 m(2) g(-1). Because of their abundant porosity, π-conjugated network structure, as well as electron-rich thiophene building units, the SCMPs show better adsorption ability for iodine and a high uptake value of 222 wt % was obtained, which can compete with those nanoporous materials such as silver-containing zeolite, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs), etc. Our study might provide a new possibility for the design and synthesis of functional CMPs containing electron-rich building units for effective capture and reversible storage of volatile iodine to address environmental issues.

Superhydrophobic Mesoporous Graphene for Separation and Absorption.

Mesoporous graphene with a surface area of 306 m2 g-1 was synthesized by employing CaCO3 microspheres as hard templates. By surface modification with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) through chemical vapor deposition, the wettability of as-treated mesoporous graphene can be tailored to be superhydrophobic to water while superoleophilic to oils. The deposition of the low-surface-energy silicon-coating originated from PDMS pyrolysis on porous graphene was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. As a result of its porous structures and excellent surface superhydrophobicity, the PDMS-treated mesoporous graphene exhibits good selectivity, excellent recyclability, and good absorption performance (up to 66 g g-1 ) for a wide range of oils and organic solvents. Thus, leading to potential use in a variety of applications such as water treatment and purification as well as cleanup of oil spills.