Porous network polymers based upon diamondoid structures with polyaromatic struts provide a robust, high-surface area platform wherein chemical functionalization can enable a wide range of potential applications. Efficient methods have been developed for the synthesis of variants of these materials in which biphenyl or terphenyl struts are functionalized with a variety of substituents, including ammonium chloride, carboxylic acid, sulfonic acid, phosphonic acid, ether, thioether, and thiol groups. By adjusting the degree of network interpenetration in the resulting structures, densely functionalized pores of differing sizes can be achieved, leading to materials exhibiting exceptional performance for the selective removal of specific ions from water. Polymers of this type have also been shown to be effective for the selective, high-capacity separation of lanthanide and actinide metal ions from aqueous solutions, as required in the treatment of radioactive waste. Dense functionalization of one such material with thioether moeities was found to enable the highly selective capture of copper from aqueous solutions, facilitating development of a method for detecting aberrantly high levels in urine or blood, as desired for the diagnosis of Wilson’s disease. Relatedly, a combined ether/thioether-functionalized material exhibits high selectivity for the uptake of iron(II) and iron(III) over other physiologically and environmentally relevant metal ions. Finally, appending N-methyl-D-glucamine (NMDG) to the framework leads to new materials for the rapid, selective, and high-capacity removal of boron from water.

New porous network polymers for metal ion separations and water purification

2019 Fall National Meeting

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