Fluorinated Nanoporous Organic Polymers for Micro-Organic Pollutants Removal from Water

Design of nanoporous polymers that contain confined spaces with functionalities can lead to selective chemical interactions and separation of species with similar sizes and functionality. Micro-organic pollutants are emerging contaminants such as pharmaceutics, endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), and pesticides, although widely available activated carbon and salt-based flocculants operate sufficiently for conventional water treatment procedures. We recently reported a charge-specific size-dependent separation of water-soluble molecules through an ultra-microporous polymeric network that features fluorines as the predominant surface functional groups (Nature Commun., 7, 13377, 2016). Treatment of similarly sized organic molecules with and without charges shows that fluorine interacts with charges favorably. Control experiments using similarly constructed frameworks with or without fluorines verify the fluorine-cation interactions. The fluorinated nano-porous organic polymers can contribute to the removal of a wide range of micropollutants during water and wastewater treatment. Similarly, applying these concepts to conventional adsorbents like activated carbon opens new paths for sustainable water treatment.