Synthesis of sulfhydryl‐functionalized polymers for the efficient adsorption of Pd2+ and Ag+ from aqueous solution

Abstract Herein, two sulfhydryl‐functionalized polymers, namely, EDT‐HCPS and TMPMP‐HCPS, were synthesized according to the Friedel‐Craft s alkylation and nucleophilic substitution, and they were used to adsorb Pd 2+ and Ag + from aqueous solution. The Friedel‐Crafts alkylation offered the polymers with hyper‐cross‐linking frameworks composed of plentiful rigid methylene. The nucleophilic substitution brought abundant functional SH groups (the sulfur contents were 12.6 and 9.4 wt%, respectively) to the polymers. The adsorption results showed that the capacities of Pd 2+ and Ag + on EDT‐HCPS were larger than TMPMP‐HCPS, and the higher quantities of functional SH groups and the porosity played a beneficial role. The equilibrium data can be characterized by the Langmuir model, and the maximum capacities of Pd 2+ and Ag + on EDT‐HCPS at 308 K were predicted to be 383.92 and 212.93 mg g −1 , respectively. The produced polymers represented superior adsorption selectivity, reproducibility, and reusability, demonstrating their excellent performance for the adsorption of Pd 2+ and Ag + , and analysis of the adsorption mechanism demonstrated that the SH groups played a major role due to the strong chemical complexation of the functional SH with Pd 2+ /Ag + .