Nitrogen self-doped hierarchical porous carbon derived from H6TDPAT ligand for efficient iodine and pharmaceutical contaminant removal

Abstract

Efficient removal of environmental pollutants is a critical challenge that requires the development of advanced adsorbents with high capacities. This study introduces a simplified and novel route for synthesizing high-performance porous carbon directly from organic ligands, using a simple solid-state ZnCl₂ activation process. In this study, we used the H₆TDPAT ligand, a highly conjugated nitrogen-containing organic ligand, to synthesize hierarchical nitrogen-rich porous carbon. The porous carbon materials exhibited high specific surface areas up to 1454.04 m²/g. The efficiency of the resulting porous carbons was tested using iodine (I₂) and tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) adsorption experiments. The gas-phase iodine adsorption experiments revealed that the material could capture up to 383 wt% iodine. Similarly, 100 % TCH removal was achieved at room temperature, with a maximum adsorption capacity of 490.27 mg/g and outstanding recyclability. This study addressed the gap in research on nitrogen self-doped porous carbons with applications in environmental remediation, particularly for the removal of iodine and pharmaceutical contaminants.