Simultaneously selective adsorption and effective immobilization of p-arsanilic acid (p-ASA) and roxarsone (ROX) from water by utilizing novel double-template molecularly imprinted polymers: Performance and mechanism

To enhance the special selectivity and recognizability of two kinds of typical phenylarsonic compounds ( p -arsanilic acid ( p -ASA) and roxarsone (ROX)) in complicated water bodies, novel double-template molecularly imprinted polymers (DMIPs) were successfully synthesized via the suspension polymerization method. Subsequently, laboratory scale tests were carried out to systematically investigate the adsorption behavior and performance of p -ASA and ROX by using polymers. The result indicated that DMIPs exhibited super p -ASA/ROX sequestration and immobilization compared with non-imprinted polymers (DNIPs), which was associated with imprinting effect of polymers. The better removal efficiency of p -ASA/ROX by DMIPs were occurred in a broad pH region (3.0–9.0), whereas solution pH severely affected the uptake of DNIPs for organic arsenic compounds. According to the remarkable binding selectivity and special recognizability of DMIPs, common inorganic ions and natural organic matters (NOM) were negligible influence on targeted pollutants removal, and excellent adsorption capacity could still maintain even in the presence of interfering substances that displayed similar chemical structure with templates to a certain extent. Finally, the remarkable reusability and stable performance in continuous flow studies demonstrated the obtained DMIPs were promising candidates for simultaneously and effectively eliminating these multiple organic arsenic pollutants in harsh and complicated aquatic environment.