Cross-linked PVBC microspheres were tethered with quaternized PDMAPMA brushes via surface-initiated ATRP as effective anionic sorbents for phenol removal.

No abstract

Simultaneous effective removal of phenol and Pb 2+ pollutants from their mixed aqueous solution was accomplished by zwitterionic poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate) (PSBMA)-grafted poly(vinylbenzyl chloride) microspheres synthesized by surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization. Batch adsorption studies were carried out in the single-component and mixed binary systems to determine the interaction effect of the Pb 2+ and phenol adsorption on the as-synthesized bifunctional adsorbents. The adsorption kinetics of phenol and Pb 2+ were demonstrated to be consistent with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The maximum adsorption capacities of Pb 2+ and phenol, which were derived from Langmuir fitting, in the mixed binary system reached as high as about 0.99 and 1.43 mmol/g at pH 5 and 298.15 K, respectively. The phenol adsorption capacity was found to be substantially enhanced in the mixed binary system relative to the corresponding single-component system. The postulated adsorption mechanism of zwitterionic adsorbents for Pb 2+ and phenol was caused by electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bond, and surface complexation.