Improving surface areas of covalent organic framework with surfactant assisted solvothermal method and its adsorption properties for rhodamine B

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have attracted extensive attention in recent years due to their unique advantages. The facile fabrication of COFs is meaningful for exploring and promoting their application. In this study, TFP-PPDA COFs with uniform nanofibers morphology, good crystallinity and high surface area were obtained via a facile surfactant assisted solvothermal method. With the addition of Hexadecyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), the as-synthesized TFP-PPDA COFs changed from massive porous structure to fluffy structure with twisting long threads. Compared with TFP-PPDA obtained via the normal solvothermal method, the surface area of COFs with surfactant assisted method increased from 291 m2/g to 705 m2/g. And then, it can be used as an adsorbent of RhB. The maximum adsorption capacity was achieved as 704.3 mg/g. The special microstructure and large adsorption capacity of TFP-PPDA are promising as sorbent for removing RhB from aqueous medium.