Efficient recovery of aromatic compounds from the wastewater of styrene monomer and propylene oxide co-production plant via hypercrosslinked aryl-rich starch-β-cyclodextrin polymeric sorbent

• Published in: Chinese journal of chemical engineering 2022-09, Vol.49 (9), p.150-160
• Main Authors: Tan, Zhongwei, Xu, Xingguo, Wan, Yu, Kang, Chengjun, Zhang, Zhaoqiang, Zhao, Zhenxia, Shen, Fang, Chai, Kungang, Ji, Hongbing
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adsorption; Aromatics; Hypercrosslinked polymer; Starch; Wastewater treatment; β-cyclodextrin
• ISSN: 1004-9541; 2210-321X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cjche.2022.04.009

[Display omitted] •A hydrophilic HSPS-ACD(H) with high porosity was fabricated.•HSPS-ACD(H) is a new benchmark sorbent for uptake of AP and 1-PE.•Competitive or synergetic adsorption of co-existing aromatics was studied.•Efficient recovery of the target aromatics was demonstrated in fixed bed column.•DFT calculations provided insights into mechanism for selective adsorption. Adsorptive recovery of valuable components from industrial wastewater is highly desirable for avoiding resource wastage but remains a challenge. Herein, we develop an efficient continuous adsorption process for recovering aromatic compounds in wastewater from styrene monomer and propylene oxide co-production (SMPO) plant. Based on our insight into the potential of bio-based porous materials for adsorption application, starch-graft-polystyrene (SPS) and aryl-modified β-cyclodextrin (ACD) were prepared, and novel hypercrosslinked porous polymers combined SPS with ACD (HSPS-ACDs) were synthesized through external crosslinking approach. In a binary-component system, the best-performing one HSPS-ACD(H) with high ACD content and large specific surface area possessed superior capacities for the representative aromatic compounds, acetophenone (AP, 2.81 mmol·g−1) and 1-phenylethanol (1-PE, 1.35 mmol·g−1) compared with the previously reported materials. Further, the adsorption properties of aromatic compounds on HSPS-ACD(H) were investigated in batch mode. For practical application, continuous adsorption experiments were conducted in a HSPS-ACD(H)-packed fixed bed, where the target aromatic components in wastewater were effectively retained and further released by elution. Besides showing the reversible adsorption and efficient enrichment effect, the HSPS-ACD(H)-packed fixed bed also maintained great stability in multiple cycles. Moreover, quantum chemical calculations were performed to elucidate the potential mechanism of adsorption of AP and 1-PE onto HSPS-ACD(H).