Nanoarchitectured porous organic polymers and their environmental applications for removal of toxic metal ions

Owing to their high porosity, flexible structure and excellent chemical stability, porous organic polymers (POPs) have drawn significant interests especially in wastewater remediation. In this review, the recent research progress in adsorptive removal of toxic metal ions from aqueous solutions through the use of POPs is summarized. A selective collection of studies illustrating the reliable strategies and concepts to prepare heterotopic atoms-inserted POPs with enhanced affinity and selectivity toward various metal ions is discussed in detail and the key features of POPs as adsorbents in terms of accessible binding sites in the scaffold are highlighted. Finally, the current challenges and future prospects to establish structure–property–function relationships are provided to accelerate the rational design and synthesis of high-performance POPs for practical adsorption applications.