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Pyrene Bearing Azo-Functionalized Porous Nanofibers for CO2 Separation and Toxic Metal Cation Sensing
journal contribution
posted on 2018-11-14, 17:52 authored by Oussama M. El-Kadri, Tsemre-Dingel Tessema, Ruaa M. Almotawa, Ravi K. Arvapally, Mohammad H. Al-Sayah, Mohammad A. Omary, Hani M. El-KaderiA novel luminescent azo-linked polymer
(ALP) has been constructed
from 1,3,6,8-tetra(4-aminophenyl)pyrene using a copper(I)-catalyzed
oxidative homocoupling reaction. The polymer displays high porosity
with a Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area of 1259 m2 g–1 and narrow pore size distribution (1.06
nm) and is able to take up a significant amount of CO2 (2.89
mmol g–1) at 298 K and 1.00 bar with a high isosteric
heat of adsorption of 27.5 kJ mol–1. Selectivity
studies applying the ideal adsorbed solution theory revealed that
the novel polymer has moderately good selectivities for CO2/N2 (55.1) and CO2/CH4 (10.9). Furthermore,
the ALP shows fluorescence quenching in the presence of Hg2+, Pb2+, Tl+, and Al3+ ions. Compared
with these ions, the ALP showed no sensitivity to light metal ions
such as Na+, K+, and Ca2+ in ethanol–water
solution, clearly indicating the high selectivity of the ALP toward
heavy metal ions. The exceptional physiochemical stability, high porosity,
and strong luminescence make this polymer an excellent candidate as
a fluorescent chemical sensor for the detection of heavy metal ions.