Fiber-Supported Biocidal Porous Organic Polymer with High-Density N-Halamine Structures for Chlorine Rechargeable Water Disinfection

Disinfecting pathogenic microorganisms in water streams efficiently and massively is still a big challenge in point-of-use situations. Nowadays, available technologies are still suffering from irreversible consumption of disinfectants, production of carcinogenic byproducts, and high filtration resistance. Herein, we designed a chlorine rechargeable fiber-supported biocidal porous organic polymer (i.e., FPOP) according to a surface-activated in situ condensation methodology on cotton fibers. The presence of secondary amines in the FPOP enables it to be chlorinated to form N-halamine structures after treating it with a diluted chlorine bleach solution, allowing the FPOP to perform a potentially rapid and robust biocidal activity. The chlorinated FPOP, which possessed the combination of interfiber macropores and intrinsic meso/micropores from the porous organic polymer, showed a high specific surface area, large and rechargeable active chlorine content (∼7000 ppm), long-term stability, efficient biocidal activity (>99.9999% bacteria reduction within 1 min of contact), and desirable filtration flux (>2000 L/m2 h). The successful fabrication of FPOP indicated the promise of applying it as a filtration material for point-of-use water disinfection with superior killing capacity, high filtration flux, and low cost.