Superhydrophobic nanoporous polymers as efficient adsorbents for organic compounds

SummarySuperhydrophobic nanoporous polydivinylbenzene materials are successfully synthesized by a novel solvothermal route. The synthesized polymers exhibit high surface area, large pore volume, controllable average pore size, superhydrophobicity and superoleophilicity. In the adsorption of typical volatile organic compounds (VOC) and organic pollutants in water, it displays excellent adsorptive property compared with that of activated carbon and Amberlite XAD-4 resin. The nanoporous polydivinylbenzene almost does not adsorb either liquid or gaseous water and thus has a preferential selectivity for organic compounds. Our nanoporous material shows a great potential in air purification, wastewater treatment, chemical accident remediation and environmental protection.