Superhydrophobic and Superoleophilic Divinylbenzene Based Porous Polymer as an Efficient Adsorbent for Organic Contaminants

ABSTRACT

Developing adsorbents with both superhydrophobic and superoleophilic properties has always been a challenge. Here, 1,6‐divinylperfluorohexane was first used to copolymerize with divinylbenzene to enhance the hydrophobicity of divinylbenzene based polymers. FT‐IR, XPS, SEM, TEM, and other characterizations revealed that the nanoscale rough surface and the hydrophobic groups such as perfluoroalkyl, alkyl, and benzene rings on the rough surface were the main reasons for the superhydrophobicity and superoleophilicity of the polymer. Especially perfluoroalkyl, by adjusting the content of 1,6‐divinylperfluorohexane in the polymer, not only the water contact angle enhanced from 150° to 160°, but also the oil contact angle decreased from 18° to about 0°. This superhydrophobic and superoleophilic porous organic polymer exhibited excellent adsorption performance in typical organic pollutant removal and oil–water separation with a maximum adsorption capacity of 550 wt%. In addition, since divinylbenzene was connected to 1,6‐divinylperfluorohexane with covalent bond, this porous organic polymer had good stability, and its adsorption performance did not significantly decrease after 10 repeated uses.