3D Macroporous and Mesoporous Sponge for Selective Pollutant Removal

Three-dimensional (3D) hierarchically porous materials are widely used owing to their unique pore structures and rich specific surface areas. Herein, we design a 3D macroporous and mesoporous silicone sponge via a one-pot efficient thiol oxidative coupling reaction between polysiloxanes and HS-modified mesoporous polymers. The diameters of the macropores and mesopores are higher and lower than 50 nm, respectively. The sponge possesses a surface area of 20.72 m2 g–1, a porosity of 61.39%, and good compression and thermal insulation properties. A dye adsorption evaluation confirmed that the sponge selectively removed cation dyes from a mixed dye solution. This synthesis method for 3D macroporous and mesoporous sponges can potentially synthesize composites of other mesoporous materials.