Record-high adsorption capacities of polyaniline-derived porous carbons for the removal of personal care products from water

Contamination of water resources with organics such as personal care products (PCPs) is severe because of the increasing living standards, huge production/consumption of PCPs, and increasing population. In this study, the removal of three typical PCPs, triclosan, oxybenzone, and p-chloro-m-xylenol, from water was carried out via adsorption over highly porous carbon, prepared from the pyrolysis of polyaniline (pANI) under suitable conditions. The carbons (named PDCs or pANI-derived carbons) showed record-high adsorption for the three PCPs, partly because of the large porosity of the PDC. Moreover, the adsorption mechanism, excluding van der Waals interactions, could be explained by the adsorption over a wide range of pH conditions. H-bonding (PCPs as Hdonor), together with hydrophobic interaction (especially at high pH), might be the plausible mechanism for the remarkable adsorption. Additionally, the used PDC could be recycled by simple solvent washing. Therefore, the PDCs could be potential adsorbents to purify water contaminated with PCPs.