Fabrication of bifunctional macroporous adsorption resin via grafting carbon dot and application in the detection and adsorption of iron (III) ion

The development of functional material is significant to remove heavy metal ions from water environment. Herein, macroporous adsorption resin (MAR) of poly(glycidyl methacrylate- co -ethylene dimethacrylate) (poly(GMA- co -EDMA)) was selected as a substrate. Then, a functional monomer, 3-(triallylsilyl)propyl acrylate (TAPA), possessing three alkenyl groups, was grafted onto the surface of MAR via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP). Subsequently, a kind of carbon dot (CD) with blue fluorescence fabricated with malonic acid and glutathione as precursors was anchored onto the surface of MAR to produce a bi-functional resin, assigned as MAR@poly(TAPA)-CD. Owning to fluorescence property of MAR@poly(TAPA)-CD and presenting different fluorescence quenching for metal ions, especially for Fe 3+ ions, the degree of quenching reached 46.2%. A linear range for 10–80 nmol L −1 (correlation coefficient of 0.9909) was acquired, meanwhile, the limit of detection about 9.74 nmol L −1 was measured, which could be applied in the trace detection. In addition, the functionalized MAR@poly(TAPA)-CD was also utilized in adsorption of Fe 3+ ion, and exhibited high adsorption capacity of 32.9 mg g −1 . The equilibrium time for adsorption of Fe 3+ occurred at 45 min. Thus, the bifunctional material can simultaneously achieve detection and adsorption of Fe 3+ ion in aqueous solution, demonstrating great potential for commercialization.