Synthesis of flower-shaped cyclodextrin microporous organic networks for selective recovery of acetophenone and 1-phenylethanol from petrochemical effluents

Fabrication of efficient and renewable biomass-derivatives-based porous materials with large surface area, good stability and selectivity for recovering acetophenone (AP) and 1-phenylethanol (PE) from petrochemical by-products is of great significance and challenge. In this work, nine novel cyclodextrins-based microporous organic networks (CD-MONs) are designed and synthesized by choosing various CD-based building blocks and aromatic alkynes. Among them, a flower-shaped DEB-γ-CD-MON not only retains the cage-type cavity and the high density of hydroxyl sites within γ-CD, possesses the large surface area, outstanding chemical robustness and strong hydrophobicity, but also offers high AP adsorption capacity (1.93 mmol g−1), good AP/PE selectivity (8.1), and recycle stability both in batch and continuous adsorption modes. The experimental and theoretical results indicate that the hydrogen bonding, π-π stacking and van der Waals interaction between adsorbents and adsorbates are favorable for binding AP toward PE. This work not only provides a biomass-derivatives-based adsorbent for the separation and recovery of AP and PE from PO/SM waste effluent, but also breaks the limitation of the original structure and characteristic of natural biomass to realize added value in biomass valorization.