Oriented Channel Functionalization in Covalent Organic Framework Fibers for Boosting the Antibiotics Removal from Environmental Water

Abstract The excessive presence of antibiotics in water is a significant social concern, as it poses serious health risks to humans, necessitating the urgent development of effective removal methods. Herein, an interfacial polymerization method is presented to fabricate a caterpillar‐like covalent organic frameworks (COF) platform with branch buds (Tp‐Bpy) and utilize a post‐modified method to modulate the environment of channels. The Tp‐Bpy channels grafted with Cu ions and ether‐oxygen chains (Mae) afforded more recognition sites and inner hindrance, thereby enhancing antibiotic removal capacity and efficiency through synergistic interactions and controlled analyte diffusion. The Cu@Tp‐Bpy‐Mae exhibited significantly higher removal capacities (412.79–435.49 mg g⁻¹) for four antibiotics, far surpassing those of Tp‐Bpy, Cu@Tp‐Bpy, and other documented material, due to synergistic interactions of electrostatic forces, π–π interactions, coordination bonding, and hydrogen bonding. More importantly, Cu@Tp‐Bpy‐Mae is capable of treating real wastewater to antibiotic concentrations below 0.02 mg L⁻¹ under continuous flow conditions, effectively mitigating drinking water risks caused by high antibiotic levels. This study offers a facile method for tailoring material properties to optimize antibiotic removal performance and exhibits great potential in environmental pollutant removal.