An
important concern for the environment is the toxicity of lead
ions in aqueous solutions. In the present research, a nitrogen-enriched
nanoporous polytriazine (NENP) is synthesized (SABET ∼
700 m2 g–1), which works well as an adsorbent
to remove Pb2+ from water bodies. In batch adsorption mode,
5 mg of NENP having a high nitrogen content (∼52%) is capable
of reducing the concentration of Pb2+ from 1.6 ppm to <10
ppb within 10 min, at 298 K and a pH of 7. The maximum adsorption
capacity of 537 mg g–1 is estimated in 10 min for
600 ppm of Pb2+ solution having a pH of 7. Meanwhile, a
mixed matrix membrane designated as N-MMM was fabricated using NENP
as the active adsorbent and characterized by field emission scanning
electron microscopy (FE-SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and N2 sorption analysis. In a cross-flow membrane setup, N-MMM
with the flux of 16.2 L m–2 h–1 can treat 5 L of an aqueous solution containing 1.6 ppm of Pb2+ and provide safe drinking water (<10 ppb by WHO) for
300 min within the permissible limit (WHO) at 2 bar transmembrane
pressure and a cross-flow velocity of 1L/M. N-MMM exhibits a remarkably
high removal efficiency of 99.4% and good retention ability up to
3 consecutive cycles. These findings will be beneficial for the cost-effective
production of metal-free heteroatom-enriched nanoporous materials
for efficient removal of Pb2+ ions from water bodies.