REMOVAL OF PESTICIDES FROM WATER USING HYPERCROSSLINKED POLYMER PHASES - PART-1 - PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF ADSORBENTS

The physical and chemical properties of hypercrosslinked polymers have been compared with a commercial grade activated carbon for the sorpti on of organic micropollutants from water. Surface area and pore size d istribution were measured by nitrogen sorption and the data analysed u sing a modified form of the Horvath and Kawazoe method. Surface reacti vity and functionality of polymers was measured by diffuse reflectance infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, solid state nuclear magnetic resonance, direct titration, elemental and zeta poten tial analysis. Chemviron F-400 activated carbon has a large surface ar ea and is microporous but contains a significant proportion of mesopor es. The hypercrosslinked polymer phases identified in this work have h igh surface areas (800-1000 m(2)g(-1)) and contain predominantly micro and macropores but virtually no mesopores. Chemical analysis of the s urface of the polymers has identified oxygen and nitrogen functionalit ies which will have an advantageous influence on the binding of polar and non-polar organic micropollutants.