A new class of sorbent materials based on non-covalent arene-arene interactions have been developed and exhibit exceptional trace metal collection from contaminated natural waters. We have shown that on ordered mesoporous silica a primary phenyl monolayer allows for a secondary layer of an arene-containing molecule to be installed with ease. A variety of thiol containing ligands were chosen to target heavy metals from water sources. By choosing ligands with a range of hydrophobicities, leaching of the secondary layer is minimized and the robust nature of these materials is improved. The non-covalently functionalized silicas presented here perform on par with the covalently functionalized version, thiol-SAMMS previously reported in the literature, and significantly outperform traditional sorbents, such as activated carbon and AMBERSEP� GT74. 

Supramolecular functionalization of mesoporous silica: A new class of sorbent materials for trace heavy metal collection

248th National Meeting (2014)

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