New Material to Remove Water Pollutants

Recently, a team of scientists from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune has designed a unique molecular sponge-like material - macro/microporous ionic organic framework - which can quickly clean polluted water by soaking up various contaminants.

• Studies have identified various organic as well as inorganic toxic pollutants that are carcinogenic in fresh water sources. These pollutants pose a direct threat to humans and other living organisms.

Key Points: The new material is called viologen-unit grafted organic-framework (iVOFm). It employs amalgamation of electrostatics driven ion-exchange combined with nanometer-sized macropores and specific binding sites for the targeted pollutants.

• The size and number of tunable macropores along with the strong electrostatic interaction of iVOFm can quickly remove various toxic pollutants from water.
• Development: To develop this unique material, the scientists employed a make-and-break strategy to grow a charged porous organic polymer (POP) as a sponge-like infinite framework on silica nanoparticles that is used as a template.
• Following this, the silica nanoparticles were strategically removed to create ordered hierarchical interconnected macro/microporosity throughout the material.

Significance: iVOFm is adaptable for sequestering various pollutants and is a possible solution to the water pollution problem. It opens up a new avenue for the development of sophisticated sorbent materials for practical water filtration.