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Macro/microporous ionic organic framework

Context:  Water contamination is one of the world’s leading causes of death. To tackle this, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune has come up with a custom-designed unique molecular sponge-like material called macro/microporous ionic organic framework which can swiftly clean polluted water by soaking up sinister contaminants.

Pollutants

• Systematic studies have identified various organic (organic dyes, antibiotics, pesticides, etc.) as well as inorganic toxic pollutants such as iodides, oxo-pollutants like perrhenate that are carcinogenic in fresh water sources and can pose direct threat to humanity and living organisms.
• In general, commonly utilised sorbent materials oftentrap these pollutants through ion-exchange strategy to purify water but suffer from poor kinetics and specificity.

IISER Solution

• To mitigate this issue, IISER prepared a newly engineered material called viologen-unit grafted organic-framework (iVOFm).
• The material employs amalgamation of electrostatics driven ion-exchange combined with nanometer-sized macropores and specific binding sites for the targeted pollutants.
• The size and number of tunable macropores along with the strong electrostatic interaction of iVOFmcan quickly remove various toxic pollutants from water.
• To develop this unique material, our team employed a make-and-break strategy to grow a charged porous organic polymer (POP) as a sponge-like infinite framework on silica nanoparticles that is used as a template.
• Following this, the silica nanoparticles were strategically removed to create ordered hierarchical interconnected macro/microporosity throughout the material.
• This material features inherent cationic nature and macroporosity to allow fast diffusion of pollutants.
• When tested for a wide array of water pollutants, it showed ultrafast capture of all the pollutants— both organic and inorganic—with over 93% removal in just 30 seconds.

Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER)

• IISERs are a group of premier public research institutions in India.
• The institutes were established by the Government of India through the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to provide collegiate education in basic sciences coupled with research at the undergraduate level.
• The institutes were formally established by the Parliament of India through the National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research (Amendment) Act, 2010 (an amendment to the National Institutes of Technology Act, 2007).
• Seven IISERs have been established across the country, namely IISER Kolkata in West Bengal, IISER Pune in Maharashtra, IISER Mohali in Punjab, IISER Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, IISER Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, IISER Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, and IISER Berhampur in Odisha.
• All IISERs were declared as Institutes of National Importance by the Parliament of India in 2012 to promote them as leading institutions in the country in the field of basic sciences
• The financial outlay for each IISER is around ₹5 billion (US$63 million) for the first five years of establishment.