A silsesquioxane-based thiophene-bridged hybrid nanoporous network as a highly efficient adsorbent for wastewater treatment

Abstract

A novel hybrid nanoporous network was easily fabricated by the one-step Heck reaction of octavinylsilsesquioxane with dibromothiophene. FTIR, solid state CP-MAS-NMR (¹³C and ²⁹Si), and elemental analysis indicate that a thiophene unit has been successfully introduced into the silsesquioxane-based network. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) measurement shows that this hybrid network possesses a high surface area of 915 m² g⁻¹, a large pore volume of 1.61 cm³ g⁻¹, and unique hierarchical pores, i.e. uniform micropores and continuous multimodal mesopores. Remarkably, it displays an ultrahigh adsorption capability of 1402 mg g⁻¹ for Rhodamine B, and 862 mg g⁻¹ for Methylene Blue, which are among the highest values compared with other reported adsorbents. It also shows a good removal capability of toxic heavy metal ions from wastewater. More importantly, it could remove multiple pollutants efficiently from wastewater by simple filtration and possesses excellent regeneration performance.