Highly porous P(DVB-AMPS) copolymer with tailored surface engineering for efficient fluoride capture from water

Surface engineering, especially surface hydrophilicity and active binding sites are crucial for porous polymers in the removal of fluoride ions from water. Herein, a novel P(DVB-AMPS) copolymer with tailored surface engineering was designed through a one-step polymerization method by incorporating diethylene-benzene (DVB) and 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid (AMPS). AMPS endows abundant active binding sites and provides P(DVB-AMPS) with both hydrophilicity and affinity for fluoride ions, while the monomer DVB acting as a crosslinker, facilitating pore generating. The surface hydrophilicity of P(DVB-AMPS) could be easily tuned by increasing the amounts of AMPS with the contact angle decreased from 126[Formula: see text] (PDVB) to 52[Formula: see text]. Furthermore, P(DVB-AMPS) material maintains a large specific surface area of 428 m 2 ⋅ g[Formula: see text] and preserves its highly porous structure. P(DVB-AMPS) exhibits an efficient adsorption capacity (51.9 mg ⋅ g[Formula: see text]) and a rapid adsorption rate (6.83 mg ⋅ g[Formula: see text] ⋅ min[Formula: see text]), which demonstrates competitive performance compared with previous reports. Importantly, the material possesses highly selective adsorption toward fluoride. The excellent adsorption performance of P(DVB-AMPS) is attributed to the high porosity, improved surface hydrophilicity and active binding sites. This work not only provides a new strategy for designing high-performance adsorbents but also offers a novel polymer material for the efficient capture of fluoride ions from water.