Metal-free and Scalable Synthesis of Porous Hyper-cross-linked Polymers: Towards Applications in Liquid-Phase Adsorption

A metal-free route for the synthesis of hyper-cross-linked polymers (HCP) based on BrOnsted acids such as trifluoromethanesulfonic acid as well as H2SO4 is reported. It is an improved method compared to conventional synthesis strategies that use stoichiometric amounts of metal-based Lewis acids such as FeCl3. The resulting high-performance adsorbents exhibit a permanent porosity with high specific surface areas up to 1842m(2)g(-1). Easy scalability of the HCP synthesis is proven on the multi-gram scale. All chemo-physical properties are preserved. Water-vapor adsorption shows that the resulting materials exhibit an even more pronounced hydrophobicity compared to the conventionally prepared materials. The reduced surface polarity enhances the selectivity in the liquid-phase adsorption of the biogenic platform chemical 5-hydroxymethylfurfural.