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Boron nitride nanotube (BNNT) is a novel material that shows potential ability in capturing organic pollutants. In this study, BNNTs fixed on a stainless steel fiber by a sol-gel technique were used as sorbent for solid-phase microextraction. Five polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with different numbers of aromatic rings were selected as target analysts. Gas chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry was used for detection and quantitative determination. Under optimized conditions, the experimental results show a wide range of linearity (1 to 1,000 ng L), less than 10.1 % repeatability of relative standard deviation, and low detection limits (0.08 to 0.39 ng L). In addition, the fabricated fiber offered good thermal and chemical stability. The proposed method was successfully applied for the analysis of real water samples, and satisfactory results were obtained with relative recoveries ranging from 80.2 to 116.8 %. The results demonstrated that BNNTs could be used as sorbent for the analysis of environmental pollutants at trace levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving both rapid adsorption rate and high adsorption capacity for bisphenol micropollutants from aquatic systems is critical for efficient adsorbents in water remediation. Here, we elaborately prepared three nitrogen-rich triazine-based porous polymers (NTPs) with similar geometric configurations and nitrogen contents (41.70–44.18 wt%) while tunable BET surface areas and micropore volumes in the range of 454.7–536.3 m2 g−1 and 0.20–0.84 cm3 g−1, respectively. It was systematically revealed that the synergy of hydrogen bonding, π−π electron-donor-acceptor interaction, and micropore preservation promoted the rapid (within 5 min) and high capacity adsorption of bisphenols by NTPs. Particularly, microporous-dominated NTPs-3 with the highest micro-pore volume (0.84 cm3 g−1) displays remarkable adsorption capacity towards bisphenol A as evidenced by the adsorption capacity of 182.23 mg g−1. A simple column filter constructed by NTPs-3 also expressed good dynamic adsorption and regeneration capacity. This work provided new insight into the rational design and engineering of nitrogen-rich porous polymers for the remediation of micropollutant wastewater. Three nitrogen-rich triazine-based porous polymers with similar geometric configurations and nitrogen contents while tunable BET surface areas and micropore volumes were used for the adsorption of bisphenol micropollutants. [Display omitted] • NTPs have similar geometric configurations and nitrogen contents while tunable porosities. • The adsorption mechanism is the synergy of hydrogen bonding, π−π interaction, and micropore preservation. • NTPs-3 expressed rapid and high capacity adsorption of bisphenols. • A simple column filter constructed by NTPs expressed good dynamic adsorption and regeneration capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nickel aluminum layered double hydroxides (LDHs) fabricated via sodium citrate (SC) assistant hydrothermal route were evaluated for removing p-nitrophenol from aqueous solutions. The characterization results indicate that the NiAl-LDHs nanoparticles have well-ordered layer structure with highly crystalline nature. The NiAl-LDH possessed hierarchically porous nanoarchitectures with high surface area (108.7 m 2 /g) and great pore volume (0.41 cm 3 /g). Meanwhile, interlamellar spacing of NiAl-LDH was increased to 0.73 nm, demonstrating that the citric acid ion was intercalated into NiAl-LDH in vertical alignment. The morphology of NiAl-LDH changed from a series of disordered growth hexagon nanosheets to the flower-like microspheres with modification of variable sodium citrate. The adsorption isotherms of p-nitrophenol on NiAl-LDHs obey the Langmuir equation. It is worthy to note that the NiAl-LDH modified by sodium citrate with the addition of 2.316 g exhibits excellent adsorption performance with the maximum p-nitrophenol adsorption capacity of 77.7 mg/g. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boron nitride hollow spheres with ultrathin-shells were synthesized and used as sorbents for dispersive solid-phase extraction of aromatic pollutants at trace levels from environmental water samples. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were selected as target compounds. Sample quantification and detection were performed by gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Extraction parameters influencing the extraction efficiency were optimized through response surface methodology using the Box–Behnken design. The proposed method achieved good linearity within the concentration range of 0.15–250 ng L −1 PCBs, low limits of detection (0.04–0.09 ng L −1 , S/N = 3:1), good repeatability of the extractions (relative standard deviation, <12%, n = 6), and satisfactory recoveries between 84.9% and 101.0% under optimal conditions. Real environmental samples collected from rivers, local lakes, rain and spring waters were analyzed using the developed method. Results demonstrated that the hexagonal boron nitride-based material has significant potential as a sorbent for organic pollutant extraction from environmental water samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]