Abstract
Gel adsorbents are promising for pollutant removal from the wastewater. Herein, an acylhydrazone gel is developed from acylhydrazide-terminated pentaerythritol (PAT) and 2,4,6-triformylphloroglucinol (TFP) based on dynamic covalent acylhydrazone chemistry. PAT-TFP gel is stable under various conditions, while it shows reversible Cu(2+) adsorption and desorption. PAT-TFP gel is studied as a versatile adsorbent for the capture of a range of (bulky) organic contaminants and heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions. Fast and good adsorption capacities are achieved for various dyes (rhodamine B and methyl orange), amines (aniline, p-chloroaniline, 4-methylaniline, and p-aminobenzoic acid), phenols (phenol, 1-naphthol, p-methylphenol, and bisphenol A), and metal ions (Cu(2+), Cr(3+), and Hg(2+)). The maximum adsorption capacity is 107.5 mg g(-1) for Cu(2+) and the equilibrium adsorption time is 30 min. PAT-TFP gel can be regenerated efficiently and used repeatedly.