Facile “One-Pot” Fabrication of Dual-Functional Anisotropic Particles via Dispersion Polymerization for Adsorption of Copper Ions

The pollution of water by heavy metal ions poses a serious threat to human beings and ecosystems. Here, we report "one-pot" preparation of bifunctional anisotropic particles for the removal of Cu(II) ions from water. By introducing an asymmetric cross-linker that has uneven reactivity of polymerization, the regulation of anisotropic polymeric particle morphologies on a larger scale of the cross-linker content (within 10–40%) could be accomplished. Through the regulation of composition and conditions, a series of particles with different morphologies were acquired, including Staphylococcus aureus-like and concaved structures. In addition, the electron-rich vinyl groups from asymmetric cross-linkers could be retained from the polymerization; therefore, the acquired particles possessed both vinyl and epoxy functional groups that can be easily functionalized. Furthermore, penicillamine was modified by either epoxy-amine ring-opening or a thiol–ene "click" reaction onto the anisotropic particles for the removal of Cu(II) ions. Surprisingly, it was also discovered that the removal of the linear template by organic solvents could significantly improve the adsorption capacity, with an adsorption amount as high as 531.0 mg/g.