Solvothermal synthesis of carboxyl and amido functionalized mesoporous resins for water treatments

Abstract

Carboxyl functionalized mesoporous resins have been successfully synthesized through solvothermal polymerization of divinylbenzene and methacrylic acid in the presence of tetrahydrofuran and water. A series of conjunct characterizations show that these materials have disordered mesopores with uniform pore sizes (3.8–12.5 nm) and high BET surface areas (383–547 m² g⁻¹). Furthermore, carboxyl groups on the samples could be covalently grafted by amido groups through chemical reactions, which imparts a promising property to these mesoporous resins in a broad range of applications. In the adsorption of various pollutants that usually exist in wastewater, the mesoporous resins exhibit superior performances, and thus have great potential in water treatments.