Reusable CO2-Derived Polycarbonate Organogel Resins for Adsorptive Separation of Organic Solvents: Benzene, Chloroform, and Beyond

While organogel adsorbent resins demonstrate excellent performance in organic pollutant separation, their limited reusability and high carbon footprint significantly restrict further development and application. Addressing the urgent environmental challenge of CO 2 emissions, we leveraged the inherent biodegradability and eco-compatibility of CO 2 -derived poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC) to synthesize a series of highly crosslinked PPCG materials by incorporating glycidyl methacrylate (GMA)—a monomer featuring carbon–carbon double bonds, ester groups, and epoxy functionalities—during terpolymerization. The introduced ester groups facilitate chemisorption and enhanced diffusion of lipophilic organics. Studies confirmed PPCG's exceptional adsorption capacity for chloroform, benzene, toluene, and tetrahydrofuran (THF), achieving a remarkable 977% swelling ratio for chloroform. After 8 adsorption–desorption cycles, all PPCG variants (PPCG1–PPCG5) retained > 95% adsorption efficiency. Thermal and mechanical analyses further validated that increased crosslinking density improved material stability. This green, reusable organogel adsorbent addresses the critical gap in applying CO 2 -based polycarbonates to separation technologies, establishing a novel functionalization strategy for next-generation adsorbent design. Graphical Schematic illustration of the synthesis process and working mechanism of organic gel adsorption resin.