“…To regenerate the IAs, high-concentration chemical solutions of hydrochloric acid (HCl), − sodium hydroxide (NaOH), , sulfuric acid (H 2 SO 4 ), , sodium chloride (NaCl), , ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), , sodium carbonate (Na 2 CO 3 ), , and nitric acid (HNO 3 ), and mixed solutions of HCl–ethanol and HCl–thiourea as eluents have been widely used to desorb the IAs. , Although such chemical-dependent regeneration facilitates good reusability of the IAs, these chemical-intensive regeneration processes are likely to lead to secondary environmental pollution . In the attempt to minimize the use of chemicals in the regeneration processes, a number of functionally responsive molecules have been adopted to synthesize a series of SRIAs that exhibit responsive characteristics to various physical stimuli (Figure d), such as thermal-responsive poly( N , N ′-dimethylvinyl-benzylamine) (PDMVBA) and poly( N -isopropylacrylamide) , (PNIPAM); CO 2 -responsive poly(2-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA) and poly N , N -diethylacrylamide (PDEA), pH-responsive carboxymethyl cellulose , (CMC), polyitaconic acid, poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), polyamidoxime, , polyaniline, , and poly(allylsulfonic acid) (PASA); light-responsive coumarin, spiropyran (SP), and azobenzene (AZO) molecules; ion-responsive crown ethers ( i.e ., acryloylamidobenzo-18-crown-6 (AmB18C6) and dibenzo-14-crown-4 (DB14C4)); and voltage-responsive polypyrrole, , and GO composites …”