A Hierarchical Porous Aerogel Prepared from Conjugated Polymer for Rapid and Effective Removal of Organic Micro‐Pollutants from Water

Water pollution caused by organic micro‐pollutants is seriously harmful to aquatic ecosystem and human health. In this work, a hierarchical porous aerogel (HPAG) prepared from rigid conjugated polymers is used to remove organic micro‐pollutants from water. Thanks to the hierarchical porous structure and rich π electrons, HPAG showed a fast adsorption rate and high adsorption capacity for adsorbates. The maximum equilibrium adsorption capacity of HPAG for bisphenol A, 1‐naphthylamine, and naphthalene is 60.5, 50.9 and 63.9 mg g−1 at 10 ppm, respectively, and the adsorption behaviors were in accordance with the Freundlich model. HPAG exhibited a high preference in adsorbing organic micro‐pollutants with high hydrophobicity, and the removal efficiency for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons reached over 95%. The HPAG can be easily recycled and regenerated after washing with dichloromethane, and the adsorption performance maintained above 82% after 5 cycles. Hierarchical porous aerogel (HPAG) based on rigid conjugated polymer was used to efficiently remove 18 kinds of organic micro‐pollutants from water, providing equilibrium adsorption capacity of up to 63.9 mg g‐1 at 10 ppm and removal efficiency reaching over 95% for many polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. After a simple regeneration process, the aerogel can be recycled and reused.