Selective dye adsorption and metal ion detection using multifunctional silsesquioxane-based tetraphenylethene-linked nanoporous polymers

Multifunctional hybrid fluorescent porous materials have been prepared by the Friedel-Crafts reaction of octavinylsilsesquioxane (OVS) with tetraphenylethene (TPE). These hybrid porous polymers possess high surface areas of up to 1910 cm(2) g(-1), and bimodal pore structures with micropores centered at approximate to 1.4 nm and mesopores centered at approximate to 4.5 nm. They show a moderate CO2 adsorption capacity of 6.25 wt% (1.42 mmol g(-1)) at 273 K/101 kPa. Remarkably, they exhibit highly size-selective adsorption of dye of 1666 mg g(-1) for rhodamine B (RB), 1040 mg g(-1) for congo red (CR) and 862 mg g(-1) for crystal violet (CV). Furthermore, the incorporation of a tetraphenylethene unit induces higher fluorescence (lambda(em) = 490 nm) and high sensitivity for Fe3+, Cu2+ and Ru3+, especially for Fe3+ with K-SV = 140 K M-1. They are very promising for multiple applications in dye separation, sensors, etc.