Silsesquioxane-Based Triphenylamine-Linked Fluorescent Porous Polymer for Dyes Adsorption and Nitro-Aromatics Detection

• Main Authors: Qingzheng Wang, Masafumi Unno, Hongzhi Liu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-07-01
• Series: Materials
• Subjects: nanoporous polymer; silsesquioxane; triphenylamine; nitro-aromatics detection; dye adsorption
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/14/14/3851

In order to enrich hybrid materials, a novel fluorescent silsesquioxane-based polymer (denoted as PCS-OTS) was synthesized by Friedel-Crafts reaction starting from octavinylsilsesquioxane (OVS) with triphenylamine-functionalized silsesquioxane monomer (denoted as OTS) with AlCl₃ as catalyst. PCS-OTS possessed a high surface area of 816 m²/g and a unique bimodal pore structure. The triphenylamine unit endowed PCS-OTS with excellent luminescence, which made it act as a sensitive chemical sensor and detect p-nitrophenol with high sensitivity (K_SV = 81,230 M⁻¹). Moreover, PCS-OTS can significantly remove dyes, and the respective adsorption capacity for Rhodamine B (RB), Congo red (CR) and Methyl Orange (MO) is 1935, 1420 and 155 mg/g. Additionally, it could simultaneously remove multiple dyes from water by simple filtration and be easily regenerated. This hybrid porous polymer can be a good choice for water treatment.