Sulfonated tetraphenylethylene polymers with negative charges for high-capacity removal of organic dyes from waste water

The abuse of cationic organic dyes has brought huge environmental pollution problems and seriously threatened human health. To solve this problem, we report the sulfonated polytetraphenylethylene (SPTPE) with a rich negative charge, and investigate the application in wastewater treatment and adsorption of cationic organic dyes. Due to the negative charge on the surface, SPTPE exhibits excellent hydrophilcity and high adsorption capacity on various organic dyes. Especially, the maximum adsorption capacities of SPTPE on malachite green is 2778 mg/g and Rhodamine B 2232 mg/g, indicating its great potential in rapid water treatment. This article pointed out a new idea for the design and exploitation of advanced materials for wastewater cleaning.