Biomimetic Design of Glutamic Acid-Functionalized Polyacrylonitrile Fiber: Advanced Phosphate Capture via Intermolecular Weak Interactions.

Glutamic acid-functionalized polyacrylonitrile fiber achieves a maximum phosphate adsorption capacity of 123.69 mg P/g, demonstrating high efficiency across a broad pH range.

• Why it matters: Excessive phosphorus discharge causes aquatic eutrophication, and current removal methods need improvement in sustainability and effectiveness. Developing new materials that mimic biological phosphate binding can address this gap.
• What they did: Researchers employed biomimetic design by functionalizing polyacrylonitrile fiber with glutamic acid to replicate the hydrogen-bonding environment of phosphate-binding proteins, and characterized its adsorption performance and mechanisms.
• The result: The PANF-Glu material maintains over 91% of its adsorption capacity after five regeneration cycles, leveraging hydrogen bonding, electrostatic attraction, and hydrophilicity, and avoids secondary pollution, promising for water treatment applications.