{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,25]],"date-time":"2026-01-25T05:36:32Z","timestamp":1769319392072,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"23","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,3]],"date-time":"2025-12-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1764720000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["22308349"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["22308349"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Polymers"],"abstract":"<jats:p>A quaternized and phenyl-functionalized hyperbranched PEI-based sponge (SHPEI-QP) was successfully prepared, and its adsorption performance was investigated to evaluate its potential for removing the anionic non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (ibuprofen (IBU)). We reported that the synthesis of polyethyleneimine-based sponges was achieved through cryo-polymerization using 1,4-butanediol diglycidyl ether (BDDE) as the crosslinking agent. Subsequent functionalization with resorcinol diglycidyl ether (RDGE) and trimethylamine introduced quaternary ammonium cations, imparting strong basicity and hydrophilicity, as well as phenyl groups, conferring hydrophobic characteristics, respectively. The aforementioned sponge material, SHPE-QPI, primarily facilitates the efficient adsorption of IBU in aqueous solutions through the anion exchange properties of quaternary ammonium groups and the \u03c0-\u03c0 interactions associated with oxygen-activated benzene rings. Various characterizations, such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and specific surface area determination method (BET), confirmed the successful synthesis of the bifunctionalized SHPEI-QP adsorbent. This adsorbent features a porous structure (specific surface area of 77.2 m2 g\u22121 and pore size distribution of 25\u2013100 nm) and an isoelectric point (pHpzc) of 9.38. The adsorption kinetics of the adsorbent for IBU were extremely rapid and conformed to a pseudo-second-order kinetic model, and the adsorption isotherm aligned with the Langmuir isotherm model. Noteworthily, SHPEI-QP demonstrated an exceptionally high adsorption capacity for IBU, achieving a maximum uptake of 905.73 mg g\u22121 at pH 7.0, which surpassed that of most of the previous reported adsorbents. Moreover, the sponge material can be chemically regenerated. After eight cycles of use, the adsorption efficiency decreased by only 4%. These findings suggest that the synthesized dendritic anion exchange adsorbent represents a promising candidate for the removal of IBU from contaminated water sources.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/polym17233221","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,3]],"date-time":"2025-12-03T15:02:48Z","timestamp":1764774168000},"page":"3221","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Bifunctionalized Polyethyleneimine-Based Sponge for Adsorption of Ibuprofen from Aqueous Solution"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Xiaoyi","family":"Gou","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Transportation Engineering, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, China"},{"name":"Centre for Ports and Maritime Safety, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6021-8843","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zia","family":"Ahmad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 457 Zhongshan Road, Dalian 116023, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6099-4818","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zaijin","family":"You","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Transportation Engineering, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, China"},{"name":"Centre for Ports and Maritime Safety, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0852-2984","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zhou","family":"Ren","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 457 Zhongshan Road, Dalian 116023, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"127145","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhazmat.2021.127145","article-title":"Decontamination of Emerging Pharmaceutical Pollutants Using Carbon-Dots as Robust Materials","volume":"423","author":"Sharma","year":"2022","journal-title":"J. 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