Design of a hyper-crosslinked β-cyclodextrin porous polymer for highly efficient removal toward bisphenol a from water

Abstract A new hyper-crosslinked β-cyclodextrin porous polymer, HCP(BnCD-DCX), was synthesized by crosslinking benzylated β-CD (BnCD) with dichloroxylene (DCX) via a Friedel-Crafts alkylation route. The polymer showed high surface area and thermal stability, making it an efficient adsorbent for the removal toward bisphenol A from water. The adsorption process of bisphenol A on the polymer followed the pseudo-second-order model and Langmuir isotherm model. The maximum adsorption capacity of bisphenol A on HCP(BnCD-DCX) was calculated to be 278 mg g−1 at 25 °C. Host-guest and π-π interactions between bisphenol A and HCP(BnCD-DCX) contributed to the high adsorption capacity. Moreover, the peak pore size distribution of the polymer (1.3 nm) matched well with the maximum molecular z length of bisphenol A, also benefitting for the adsorption efficiency. Our strategy may open a new avenue for designing various hyper-crosslinked polymers for water treatment.