Simple, mono and bifunctional periodic mesoporous organosilicas for removal of priority hazardous substances from water: The case of mercury(II)

- Mono- and bi-functional PMOs were synthesised without protection/deprotection steps.
- Functionalized-PMOs act as sorbents for water treatment.
- The bifunctional PMO shows exceptional capability for Hg removal from water.

Pristine, amino monofunctionalized and amino and thiol bifunctionalized phenylene-bridged periodic mesoporous organosilicas (Ph-PMO) were synthetized by a simple methodology without any protection/deprotection steps. The Ph-PMO materials were characterized and their potential as new sorbents for Hg(II) was investigated for low-contamination scenarios. The materials have well-ordered mesostructures as confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy analyses. 13C and 29Si solid-state NMR confirm the amination of the phenylene bridge of the simple Ph-PMO to form the amine-functionalized PMO (NH2-Ph-PMO) and the grafting of the thiol silylated ligand to the free silanols of the NH2-Ph-PMO to obtain the bifunctional (NH2-Ph-PMO-SH). For the initial conditions tested, the bifunctional material showed excellent Hg(II) removal efficiency (98%) and Hg(II) uptake time (30 min). The sorption kinetics were also investigated by three of the most studied kinetic models, and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model was the one that better described the kinetic sorption process of Hg(II) ions onto all PMO.

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