Photothermal responsive hydrogel for adsorbing heavy metal ions in aqueous solution

A solar-driven hydrogel composed of photothermal polydopamine (PDA) nanocoating, linear chitosan (CTS), and thermoresponsive poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) (PNIPAM) crosslinking network was successfully synthesized to remove heavy metal ions from contaminated water. The as-prepared PDA/CTS/PNIPAM (DCN) hydrogel can achieve hydrophilic/hydrophobic phase transition driven by solar energy when the volume phase transition temperature (VPTT) was reached. The micromorphology, wetting behavior, swelling behavior, compression properties, photothermal responsiveness, and adsorption properties of hydrogels were studied one by one. The cross-linking of the controllable active nanogel (ANG) along with the modification of PDA endowed DCN hydrogel with a regular and interpenetrating porous structure, which enabled DCN to have excellent elasticity and withstand up to 80 % compressive deformation. And the hydrophilic groups of CTS and PDA reduced the water contact angle of DCN hydrogel to 13°, which was conducive to resisting the erosion of oil substances. The excellent photothermal conversion enabled DCN hydrogel to reach VPTT in only about 11 min under a simulated sunlight source. In addition, DCN hydrogel had excellent selective adsorption for Pb 2+ and Cu 2+ , and the maximum theoretical adsorption capacities were 42.63 mg/g and 38.55 mg/g, respectively. It was also found that the volume phase transformation of hydrogel significantly enhanced its ability to resist external interference and effectively prevented the loss of heavy metal ions.