A Self-Healing Hydrogel towards Metal Ions Rapid Removal via Available Solar-Driven Fashion

Solution of heavy metal ions pollution has been considered as a big issue because of the high harmful and destructive effects to human beings. Hydrogel adsorption holds high expect to this end. However, the challenging still exists since the adsorption process is time-consuming. Herein, we designed and prepared a poly(HPA-co-AA-co-NVP) hydrogel (HPA = hydroxypropyl acrylate, AA = acrylic acid, NVP = N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) via frontal polymerization (FP) towards heavy ions removal. In virtue of high reaction rate of FP, the whole process of polymerization could accomplish within ten minutes without further energy. The as-prepared hydrogel exhibited pH-sensitivity, excellent self-healing properties (self-healing efficiency up to 90.9%) as well as heavy metal ions adsorption behavior. More importantly, we developed a new solar-driven method for rapid ions uptake, where solar energy was utilized to facilitate the adsorption rate. As compared to general adsorption in water without any treatment, this new solar...