Oriented Channel Functionalization in Covalent Organic Framework Fibers for Boosting the Antibiotics Removal from Environmental Water

Abstract

The excessive presence of antibiotics in water is a significant social concern, as it poses serious health risks to humans, necessitating the urgent development of effective removal methods. Herein, an interfacial polymerization method is presented to fabricate a caterpillar-like covalent organic frameworks (COF) platform with branch buds (Tp-Bpy) and utilize a post-modified method to modulate the environment of channels. The Tp-Bpy channels grafted with Cu ions and ether-oxygen chains (Mae) afforded more recognition sites and inner hindrance, thereby enhancing antibiotic removal capacity and efficiency through synergistic interactions and controlled analyte diffusion. The Cu@Tp-Bpy-Mae exhibited significantly higher removal capacities (412.79–435.49 mg g⁻¹) for four antibiotics, far surpassing those of Tp-Bpy, Cu@Tp-Bpy, and other documented material, due to synergistic interactions of electrostatic forces, π–π interactions, coordination bonding, and hydrogen bonding. More importantly, Cu@Tp-Bpy-Mae is capable of treating real wastewater to antibiotic concentrations below 0.02 mg L⁻¹ under continuous flow conditions, effectively mitigating drinking water risks caused by high antibiotic levels. This study offers a facile method for tailoring material properties to optimize antibiotic removal performance and exhibits great potential in environmental pollutant removal.