Fabrication of synergistic sites on an oxygen-rich covalent organic framework for efficient removal of Cd(II) and Pb(II) from water

A key matter in heavy metal removal technology is to develop the adsorbents with efficient adsorption sites. In this study, an oxygen-rich covalent organic framework (JUC-505) was functionalized by carboxyl (-COOH) groups to form synergetic effects aiming for the removal of Cd(II) and Pb(II) ions. JUC-505-COOH shows a high Cd(II) uptake of 504 mg⋅g^-1 surpassing most of the reported porous adsorbents. Meanwhile, the kinetics study shows a rapid adsorption process at a high initial concentration (100 mg⋅L^-1), and the equilibrium can be reached within 5 min. We investigated the adsorption mechanism in-depth by density functional theory calculations, proving the synergistic effects of surface complexation and hydrogen-bond, which are from the post-modified -COOH groups and the in-situ oxygen atoms of JUC-505, respectively. Moreover, under the interference of common ions in natural water, the removal efficiency of Cd(II) is almost insusceptible, which sheds lights on the potential for the application in the natural water purification. In addition, the Pb(II) uptake (559 mg⋅g^-1) and the adsorption kinetics also surpass most of the reported porous adsorbents.