1Research
Center for Environmental Nanotechnology (ReCENT), Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, P. R. China
2State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023 P. R. China
3School of Environmental and Biological Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Xiaolingwei 200, Nanjing, 210094 P. R. China
Tóm tắt
AbstractIn confined space with length scale of several nanometers, the phase behavior of matter, e.g., nucleation and crystallization, is completely different from its analogue in bulk. However, in environmental applications, the relationship between the nanoconfined crystallization behavior of inorganic crystals and their properties for pollutant removal is rarely elucidated. Herein, an unusual formation of zirconium phosphate (ZrP) crystals as a mixture of both thermodynamically stable α‐ and metastable γ‐phases inside the nanoconfinement of 7.9 nm pores of mesoporous polystyrene (MPS) is reported. This consequently changes the interaction between ZrP and toxic metal cations from nonspecific electrostatic attraction of normal α‐ZrP to highly specific inner‐sphere coordination of nanoconfined γ‐ZrP, which exhibits remarkable reactivity as well as reusability for the removal of toxic metals. The results of this study contribute to a better understanding of the use of nanoconfinement for the regulation of material properties.
