Herein, we report a series of poly(ionic liquid)-based (PIL) hydrogels that were synthesized via chemical cross-linking of poly(4-vinylpyridine) (P4VPy) with dibrominated polyethylene glycol (Br-PEG-Br), followed by postquaternization using ethyl bromide, bromo ethyl amine, or chloroacetic acid as adsorbents for the removal of organic dyes from water and carbon dioxide (CO2) from air. This strategy enabled the generation of hydrogels with a high density of pyridinium ionic liquid-like moieties and tunable secondary functionalities. Successful quaternization was confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy through the disappearance of the pyridine band at 1590 cm–1 and the growth of the pyridinium signal at 1640 cm–1, as well as by EDX analysis, showing increased halide counterion content. Postquaternization markedly enhanced the hydrophilicity and swelling capacity of the gels, increasing the swelling ratio from 343% for the pristine PIL to values between 371% and 559%, accompanied by a shift in swelling mechanism from diffusion-controlled to relaxation-dominated behavior. The higher density of ionic sites significantly improved adsorption performance toward methyl orange (MO) and CO2, yielding maximum adsorption capacities of up to 550.7 mg g–1 for MO and 12.6 mg g–1 for CO2, corresponding to 2.3-fold and 5.0-fold enhancements relative to the unmodified PIL gel, respectively, in which the presence of IL-like structures plays a significant role. Importantly, MO adsorption was reversible through simple ion-exchange using aqueous KCl, enabling multiple adsorption–desorption cycles without structural degradation. These results demonstrate that postfunctionalized PIL hydrogels constitute versatile, regenerable, and tunable adsorbents for water and gas remediation, aligning with sustainable development strategies targeting water purification and greenhouse gas mitigation.
Ramírez et al. (Mon,) studied this question.
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