Boron nitride adsorbents with sea urchin‐like structures for enhanced adsorption performance

Abstract Water pollution, especially caused by organic pollutants, seriously affects people's health and even threatens life. Boron nitride (BN) adsorbents with unique sea urchin‐like structures were fabricated after low‐temperature treatment, freeze–drying, and high‐temperature calcination. Results indicated that the sea urchin‐like structure was a combination of fibers spreading outward from the center to its surroundings. As the temperature difference was gradually increased in the low‐temperature treatment, the diameter of the sea urchin‐like structure decreased and the Brunner‐Emmett‐Teller surface area increased. The adsorbents showed efficient adsorption rates and excellent reusability for dyes and antibiotics. Specifically, the maximum adsorption capacities for methylene blue and tetracycline were higher than those described in most of the literature, reaching 592.37 and 369.79 mg/g, respectively. This may have be attributed to the sea urchin‐like structure of the porous fibers able to trap organic pollutants in the center, which showed strong intermolecular interactions with organic pollutants, that is, π – π bond binding force and acid‐base complexation. The obtained BN adsorbents with sea urchin‐like structures have great applicability in areas where organic pollutant adsorption is prevalent.