Copolymerization of Mesoporous Styrene‐Bridged Organosilica Nanoparticles with Functional Monomers for the Stimuli‐Responsive Remediation of Water

Abstract

For every mass product, there are problems associated with the resulting waste. Residues of hormones in urine cannot be removed sufficiently from wastewater, and this has undesired consequences. An ideal adsorbent would take up the impurity, enable a simple separation and recyclability. Polymer colloids with high affinity towards the drug, accessible porosity, high surface area, and stimuli-responsive properties would be candidates, but such a complex system does not exist. Here, porous vinyl-functionalized organosilica nanoparticles prepared from a styrene bridged sol-gel precursor act as monomers. Initiation of the polymerization at the pore walls and addition of functional monomers result in a special copolymer, which is covalently linked to the surface and covers it. An orthogonal modification of external surface was done by click attachment of a thermoresponsive polymer. The final core-shell system is able to remove quantitatively hydrophobic molecules such as the hormone progesterone from water. A change of temperature closes the pores and induces the aggregation of the particles. After separation one can reopen the particles and recycle them.

Activatable Multizone Hybrid Hydrogels Containing Porous Organosilica Nanoparticles as Gatekeepers

“…1,3-Bis(tri-iso-propoxysilyl)-styrene was synthesized according to the literature. 31 Synthesis of Nanoporous Nanoparticles from 1,3-Bis(triisopropoxysilyl)-5-styrene. This synthesis has already been published in a previous publication.…”

“…This synthesis has already been published in a previous publication. 31 A typical synthesis was performed as follows: 100 mg (0.2 mmol, 1 equiv) of the precursor was dissolved in 1.0 mL of 2-propanol in a screw cap glass. To initiate hydrolysis, 0.62 mL of a 0.01 M hydrochloric acid solution was added under stirring (700 rpm), and the turbid reaction mixture was stirred for 3 h at RT (700 rpm).…”

Energy Harvesting/Storage and Environmental Remediation via Hot Drinks Wastes

“…Tremendous efforts have been accomplished to absorb and remove these three types of environmental pollutions by using different organic and inorganic absorbents. The smart remediation has been obtained through the novel absorbents that select the pollutants [108] . Usually, active carbons are used to absorb chemical substances, dyes, and unpleasant odors [107] .…”

Metal‐Thiolate Framework for Electrochemical and Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Generation

“…Organic-inorganic hybrid frameworks are very demanding as one can largely vary the metal centers and donor sites of the ligand moieties to obtain a wide range of materials having many frontline applications. [18][19][20] These hybrid frameworks are intensively studied for gas absorption/separation, [21,22] sensing, [23] heterogeneous catalysis, [24,25] fuel cells, [26] photocatalysis, [27] supercapacitors, electrodes in electrocatalysis, [28] and photoelectrochemical water splitting. [29] Since HER is essentially a surface phenomenon, engineering of the framework of the electrode materials can enhance the catalytic activity significantly.…”