Magnetic Conjugated Polymer Nanoparticles with Tunable Wettability for Versatile Photocatalysis under Visible Light

Abstract

Limited dispersibility of conjugated polymer photocatalysts in solvents narrows the options of exploring for diverse photocatalytic reactions. In this study, we report magnetic conjugated polymer nanoparticles made of conjugated polyelectrolytes, which exhibited tunable wettability in solvents. The dispersibility of photocatalysts could be altered by the exchange of anions on the nanoparticles, which thereby covers a wide range of solvents from water to toluene. The optimized wettability of the photocatalysts in desired solvents was demonstrated by two model reactions under visible light irradiation, namely, photodegradation of tetracycline in water and photooxidative coupling of benzylamines in acetonitrile. The magnetic conjugated polymer nanoparticles could be easily regenerated from the reaction solvents via the magnetic separation technique.

Hydrolysis-resistant heterogeneous photocatalysts for PET-RAFT polymerization in aqueous environments

“…Light-mediated polymerization in water in particular shows signicant potential to broaden the scope of accessible materials that can be synthesized under visible light and ambient conditions. [19][20][21][22][23][24] This includes reversible deactivation radical polymerization (RDRP) to produce well-dened (super)hydrophilic polyelectrolytes, 25,26 zwitterionic materials, 27,28 or polyampholytes, 29 all of which have been considered intriguing materials for various applications, including anti-fouling, 30 anti-icing, 31 anti-fogging, 32 and many others. 33,34 Moreover, water as a solvent for RDRP can provide exciting new chemical behaviors to drive unconventional reaction pathways and accelerate advancements in photocatalysis.…”

Covalent Organic Framework as a Metal-Free Photocatalyst for Dye Degradation and Radioactive Iodine Adsorption

“…First, photodegradation of organic dyes − is adopted to clean up the wastewater. To execute such a photodegradation process, a robust photocatalyst − needs to be constructed, which possesses semiconducting properties, , e.g., it should have a suitable band gap for effective hole–electron pair generation and charge separation. , A large number of such photocatalysts have been fabricated for the sake of wastewater treatment via dye degradation like metal oxides, , metal sulfides, , and several others, where most of these catalytic systems deal with metals. Consequently, these catalytic systems are environmentally hazardous in nature and might have the possibility of declining in the catalytic activity in the long run due to the leaching of active metals from the catalyst surface.…”

Advances in the Research of Photo, Electrical, and Magnetic Responsive Smart Superhydrophobic Materials: Synthesis and Potential Applications

“…Wettability refers to the ability of a liquid to spread on a solid surface and interact with it. [1] Various physical and chemical processes, including adsorption, [2][3][4] lubrication, [5][6][7] adhesion, [8,9] dispersion, [10][11][12] and friction, [13][14][15] are closely related to surface wettability. [16] Therefore, understanding and controlling the wettability of material surfaces are of great importance for the development of new materials, the design of new functionalities, and the improvement of existing technologies.…”