COF-300/PVDF adsorbents with aligned microchannels for fast removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)

Anthropogenic release of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in water bodies has raised global concerns due to their notorious toxicity and carcinogenicity, therating aquatic exosystems and human well-being. Adsorption processes have been proposed for PAHs remediation, but their practical applications are limited by the lack of high-performance adsorbents and effective manufacturing processes. Here, we present a facile and scalable method to produce a COF-300/PVDF composite as a high-performance adsorbent for PAHs removal. The composite comprises a porous PVDF substrate containing numerous aligned microchannels in its entire cross-section where COF-300 is fully coated. The adsorption capacities of the COF-300 powder towards two sample PAH pollutants, i.e. naphthalene and 1-naphthylamine, are 655 and 570 mg g−1, respectively, which are among the highest reported values. The composite adsorbent demonstrates better adsorption kinetics and removal efficiencies than the COF-300 powders at the same feed input of 1.44 L h-1g−1, and its superior performance has been further highlighted through a comparative study with a COF-300 pack column and COF-300/PVDF mixed matrix membranes. These results suggest that the newly developed COF-300/PVDF composite holds great potential in practical applications for PAHs removal.