New bio-based furanic materials effectively absorb metals from water and exert antimicrobial activity.

Development of sustainable bio-based materials for removal of toxic contaminants from water is a high priority goal. Novel bio-based binary and ternary copolymers with enhanced ion-exchange, adsorption and antibacterial properties were obtained using plant biomass-derived diallyl esters of furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) as crosslinking agents and easily available vinyl monomers. The synthesized copolymer materials showed higher sorption capacities for Ni(II), Co(II) and Cu(II) compared to the commercial ion-exchange resins and maintained their high metal adsorption capacities for over 10 cycles of regeneration. The synthesized copolymer gels containing 1-5 wt% of the crosslinker showed excellent water absorption capacities. The synthesized copolymers with 1% crosslinker content showed swelling ratios high enough to also act as moisture absorbents. The synthesized copolymers with crosslinker content of 10 wt% performed as contact-active antibacterials by inhibiting the growth of Gram-positive (S. aureus) and Gram-negative bacteria (E. coli, K. pneumonia) in suspension tests.