Carboxymethyl cellulose/sulfonated conjugated microporous polymer composite aerogel for efficient pollution removal and water evaporation

Conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) have gained extensive attention due to their potential application in environmental remediation. Herein, we report the synthesis of a novel composite aerogel (CMC/SCMP) was synthesized by physical doping and freeze-drying of sulfonated conjugated microporous polymer (SCMP) and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). The CMC/SCMP aerogel displayed excellent adsorption performance for Pb2+ and methylene blue (MB), with adsorption capacity up to 94.93 and 294.84 mg.g(-1), respectively. The adsorption process of the CMC/SCMP aerogel on Pb2+ and MB conformed to the quasi second-order kinetics and Langmuir isotherm model. The results of adsorption thermodynamics showed that the adsorption process was a spontaneous endothermic process. Meanwhile, the adsorption mechanism was studied by FTIR, XPS and Zeta potential characterization, and the results showed that it might be attributed to chelation, electrostatic attraction, H-bonding and pi-pi interaction. In addition, a solar steam generator (CMC/SCMP-PPy) was prepared by spraying polypyrrole on CMC/SCMP aerogel surface, which exhibited excellent photothermal conversion capability and evaporation efficiency of 85.57 % under 1 kW.m(-2) radiation. The findings of this work implied that the CMC/SCMP aerogel may have great potential as a promising material for wastewater treatment and purification.

Automated summary

In this study, a novel composite aerogel (CMC/SCMP) was synthesized using physical doping and freeze-drying techniques, which consisted of sulfonated conjugated microporous polymer (SCMP) and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). The CMC/SCMP aerogel exhibited excellent adsorption performance for Pb2+ and methylene blue (MB), with adsorption capacities of 94.93 and 294.84 mg.g(-1), respectively. The adsorption process followed quasi second-order kinetics and Langmuir isotherm model. The findings suggest that the CMC/SCMP aerogel has great potential as a promising material for wastewater treatment and purification.