Benzoyloxy functionalized hyper-cross-linked polymers for the efficient adsorption of aniline from water

Herein, both of the surface chemistry engineering and pore engineering strategies were adopted for macroporous cross-linked chloromethylated polystyrene (CMPS), their surface chemistry and the porosity were carefully regulated so as to improve their aniline adsorption from water. Specifically, benzoyloxy (from benzoic acid abbreviated BA) was firstly anchored on polystyrene (PS) as the chemical functionality, after that the methylene was inserted in the polystyrene chains using dimethoxymethane as the external agent, and as a result the benzoyloxy chemically functionalized hyper-cross-linked polymers (HCPs) named PS-BA-HCPs were precisely and accurately fabricated. It is proven that the synthesized PS-BA-HCPs-1 under the catalyst H2SO4 owned high specific surface area (460 m2/g) and pore volume (0.53 cm3/g) with the hierarchical micro/meso porosity. It had a good adsorption to aniline from water, the maximum capacity was predicted to be 201.5 mg/g, and the adsorption reached the equilibrium in 150 min. Our study provides an effective synthesis strategy for some other chemically functionalized HCPs, which performs well for aniline removal from water.