Miscellaneous Conjugated Polymer Composites in Water Purification

5 Miscellaneous Conjugated Polymer Composites in Water Purification 

PTs are stable in their oxidized and neutral states. The ease of substitutions at the third position can produce versatile modified PT with different stability, solubility, and conductivity. Compared with PANI and PPy, PTs have even lower solubility in common solvents, which call for the incorporation of other functional materials to fabricate PTs composites for water purification. 

Poly(3-methyl thlophene)/sawdust was fabricated by in situ chemical oxidation with FeClj to remove methylene blue. The adsorption capacity can reach 191 mg/g, which was seven times higher than sawdust [82]. The increased surface area may be ascribed to the high adsorption capacity, as indicated from the change of surface morphology in Figme 11.17. Sawdust had a smooth surface and layer structure, while poly(3-methyl thiophene)/saw-dust composite had heterogeneous morphology with porous surface area. 

The sorption isotherm indicated that both the Langmuir isotherm and the Freundlich isotherm can be applied in this system. Different poly(alky-sub-stituted thiophene)/polytetrafluorethylene composites were produced by emulsion polymerization [84]. The as-prepared composites can effectively 

Other conjugated polymers, such as polyacetylenes, poly (phenylenevinylene) (PPV), and poly(p-phenylene) (PPP), may also be applied as composites in wastewater treatment. However, due to the lack of heteroatoms for the functional interactions with pollutants, either inorganic ions or organic compoimds, their practical applications are still not reported yet. 

---