Thioether-Functionalized Covalent Triazine Nanospheres: A Robust Adsorbent for Mercury Removal

Abstract

Hg/Hg(II) have been recognized as being highly poisonous to humans as they cause severe health and environmental problems. Designing a suitable adsorbent decorated with an abundance of accessible chelating sites at the solid surface together with high affinity for heavy metals is a big challenge to overcoming mercury contamination. Here we report a new thioether-functionalized covalent triazine nanosphere, SCTN-1, which has been employed as a highly efficient adsorbent for the removal of toxic mercury from contaminated water with an excellent adsorption performance of 1253 and 813 mg g–1 for Hg2+ and Hg(0) respectively, which largely outperforms several recently reported thiol and thioether-functionalized adsorbents. Our kinetic studies suggest that SCTN-1 showed the fastest adsorption rate for the removal of mercury from aqueous solutions among all adsorbents known until date. Based on its adsorption performance and high recycling efficiency, this thio-functionalized nanoporous polymeric material has huge potential to be explored in environmental remediation.