Ethylene glycol dimethacrylate modified hyper-cross-linked resins: Porogen effect on pore structure and adsorption performance

Ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) modified hyper-cross-linked resins (HPVE-04, HPVE-13, HPVE-22, HPVE-31 and HPVE-40) were prepared from p-vinylbenzyl chloride (VBC) and EGDMA using o-xylene and cyclohexane as the porogens, and the porogen effect on pore structure and adsorption performance was systematically investigated. The results indicate that the resins using a higher mass percentage of o-xylene own a higher Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area, while they have lower hydrophilic, micropore area as well as less mass percentage of micropore area to BET surface area, and the pore size distribution shows dominant micropores extending to a higher part of mesopores. The adsorption performance of the resins reveals that HPVE-04 has the largest equilibrium capacity to phenol due to its highest mass percentage of micropore area, HPVE-13 possesses the largest equilibrium capacity to p-nitrophenol, and HPVE-40 holds the largest equilibrium capacity to Rhodamine B due to its highest mass percentage of mesopore/macropore area, and these resins can be completely regenerated and repeatedly used. This study provides guidelines to design novel hyper-cross-linked resins and show potential application for removal of aromatic compounds in water.