Highly efficient removal of PM and VOCs from air by a self-supporting bifunctional conjugated microporous polymers membrane

Efficient removal of pollutants in the atmosphere is of great significance to human health and environmental restoration. Herein, we report the preparation of a self-supporting conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) membrane (SS-CMPs-M) synthesized by Sonogashira-Hagihara (S–H) cross-coupling reaction using KBr tables as a template. The intrinsic hydrophobic chemical composition made it good hydrophobicity and lipophilicity, e.g., the water contact angles (WCA) for SS-CMPs-M were measured to be 113°. The aromatic building blocks of CMPs make SS-CMPs-M exceptionally stable physicochemical properties, i.e., the membrane exists stably below 300 °C, and they were insoluble in organic solvents . Additionally, the as-resulted SS-CMPs-M-1 which also presents mesoporous architecture shows effectively captures performance for particulate matter (PM) with different particle sizes in the air, the removal efficiency of PM 2.5 and PM 10 are 99.7% and 99.9%, respectively. For volatile organic compounds (VOCs) vapor in the air, the SS-CMPs-M-1 shows an excellent purification effect, the removal efficiency of formaldehyde in the simulated air is above 97%, and the AQI value of the filtered gas (>500) is reduced to 50. Taking advantage of its simple and scalable manufacture, the SS-CMPs-M-1 may have great potential as an advanced membrane for the separation and elimination of PM in different environments.