Adsorption performance and mechanism of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene on a novel adsorption material polyvinylbenzyl acid/SiO2

Abstract Polyvinylbenzene (PVB, namely polystyrene, PSt) was grafted on the surface of silica gel particles by “grafting from” in solution polymerization system, and grafting particles PVB/SiO2 were obtained. The chloromethylation reaction of the grafted polyvinylbenzene was performed using a novel chloromethylation reagent, 1,4-bis (chloromethyoxy) butane that is un-carcinogenic, and grafting particles CMPVB/SiO2 were obtained. Subsequently, chloromethyl groups on grafting particles CMPVB/SiO2 were hydrolyzed and oxidized, and finally adsorption material polyvinylbenzyl acid/SiO2 (PVBA/SiO2) was prepared. The adsorption performances and mechanism of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) on PVBA/SiO2 were investigated through static methods. The experimental results showed that PVBA/SiO2 possessed strong adsorption ability for TNT with adsorption amount of 26.84 mg g−1. The empirical Freundlich isotherm was also found to agree well with the equilibrium adsorption data. In addition, pH was found to have great influence on the adsorption amount. Finally, PVBA/SiO2 was observed to possess excellent reusability as well.