Sulfonation of a hypercrosslinked polymer adsorbent for microwave-assisted desorption of adsorbed benzene

Optipore V503, a commercial hypercrosslinked hydrophobic polymer adsorbent, was sulfonated to become hydrophilic to allow more efficient microwave-assisted desorption of adsorbed nonpolar volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as benzene under humidified conditions. Compared to Optipore V503, the hydrophilic adsorbents showed reduced adsorption capacities towards benzene, but significantly improved microwave-assisted desorption efficiencies under a semi-continuous 600 W microwave irradiation process. The increased desorption efficiency was mainly attributed to adsorbed water, which indirectly allowed heating of the polymer adsorbents to higher temperatures upon irradiation by microwaves.