Wettable magnetic hypercrosslinked microporous nanoparticle as an efficient adsorbent for water treatment

Microporous organic polymers (MOPs) are promising adsorbents for water treatment owing to their nanoporous structure with high surface areas. However, their hydrophobic nature, high cost and difficulty in recycling limit their practical application in water treatment. Here, we report the synthesis of new MOPs which combine sodium acrylate (SA) functionalized hypercrosslinked polymer (HCPs) with magnetic Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles to form a hybrid material (SA-MMNPs). The magnetic hybrid material can be directly aggregated and separated by applying an external magnetic field because of Fe₃O₄. More importantly, after introducing carboxyl group on the skeleton of HCP, the hydrophilic nature of SA-MMNPs is improved, thus SA-MMNPs can disperse in water well after vigorous shaking. The adsorption property of SA-MMNPs towards water-soluble contaminants was studied by using Rhodamine B (RhB) as adsorbates. The maximum adsorption capacity for RhB of this polymer is up to 216 mg g⁻¹ which is better than hybrid materials without modification (MMNPs). The results constitute a new HCP paradigm with hydrophilic segments for removal of water soluble contaminants with high efficiency and good recyclability in water treatment.