Hollow porous organic polymers spheres decorated with silver nanoparticles for sterilization and oil/water separation

Abstract The exploitation of high-performance antibacterial materials is of great importance for maintain public health and sustainable development of modern society. Here, we describe a facile approach for the preparation of conjugated microporous polymer hollow spheres (CMP1-HSs and CMP2-HSs) by using SiO2 nanoparticles as a template and 1,3,5-triethynybenzene and 3,7-dibromophenothiazin-5-ium, bromide for CMP2 and 1,3,5-triethynybenzene and 1,4-dibromobenzene for CMP1-HSs as building blocks via the Sonogashira-Hagihara cross-coupling reaction. The as-synthesized CMPs-HSs possess good thermal stability with a thermal decomposition temperature of up to 588 °C, high porosity (a BET specific surface area of approximately 556 m2 g−1) and a unique hollow spherical morphology with inner diameter of ca. 380 nm. Benefit from their intrinsic lipophilicity and hydrophobicity, the CMPs-HSs could act as a kind of ‘micro-tank’ which enable to capture and absorption of organics from water. Interestingly, the CMPs-HSs also show an antibacterial property with bromide. To further improve their antibacterial performance, silver nanoparticles were doped onto the CMPs-HSs (abbreviated as CMPs@Ag-HSs). The as-resulted CMPs@Ag-HSs exhibit excellent antimicrobial activity both for gram-negative, e.g. Escherichia coli, The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of CMP1 is 15 μg mL−1 that is the growth of E. coli could be inhibited entirely after 3 h treatment. Taking advantages of their superior wettability, excellent absorption and separation ability, unique hollow spherical morphology makes much more accessible external surface area for doping Ag nanoparticles, such CMPs@Ag-HSs may hold great potentials as a kind of novel porous medium for organic pollution elimination, water treatment and antibacterial applications.