New Insights into Heavy Metal Sequestration Through Metal‐Phenolic Network‐Confined Nano‐HFO: Overlooking Iron Utilization and Modulating Electron Density

New Insights into Heavy Metal Sequestration Through Metal‐Phenolic Network‐Confined Nano‐HFO: Overlooking Iron Utilization and Modulating Electron Density

Abstract Reducing toxic metal concentrations to trace levels remains a critical challenge in water remediation, largely due to the underutilization of hydrous ferric oxide (HFO), particularly within its inner layers. Herein, we present a novel strategy to enhance HFO utilization by in situ confineme...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Manyu Zhang, Xiaolin Du, Zhanqi Liu, Yujia Yang, Shuo Wang, Ningyi Chen, Yulin Wang, Yaran Song, Keju Sun, Qingrui Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-06-01
Series:Advanced Science
Subjects:
adsorption
DFT calculation
heavy metal
metal‐phenolic network
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202417798
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Abstract Reducing toxic metal concentrations to trace levels remains a critical challenge in water remediation, largely due to the underutilization of hydrous ferric oxide (HFO), particularly within its inner layers. Herein, we present a novel strategy to enhance HFO utilization by in situ confinement of nano‐HFO within polystyrene beads using a tannic acid‐zirconium (TA‐Zr) metalphenolic network, forming PS‐Fe@TA‐Zr. The TAZr network generates a highly negative microenvironment with tunable electron density at oxygen sites, facilitating Pb(II) enrichment and activating inner‐layer Fe sites. Depth‐profiling reveals a significant increase in the Pb/Fe ratio from 7.6% at the surface to 18.8% at 10 nm depth, highlighting the contribution of previously inaccessible active sites. The TAZr confinement also modulates electron density at Fe and O sites, enabling stronger hybridization with Pb 4f orbitals and enhancing Pb(II)HFO interactions. Compared with PS‐Fe, PS‐Fe@TA‐Zr exhibits over 8‐fold higher selectivity (Kd = 15,278 mL g−1), 5‐fold faster kinetics, and can treat up to 1,680 L kg−1 with effective regeneration across six cycles in actual industrial wastewater. This work provides new insights into metalphenolic network‐assisted design of nanocomposites for highly efficient iron utilization in heavy metal removal.
ISSN:2198-3844

Similar Items