Bioinspired hierarchical porous polymers for highly efficient and selective removal of methyl parathion through host–guest interaction

Methyl parathion is a highly hazardous organophosphorus pesticide widely used in agriculture, and its environmental residues pose a significant threat to the ecosystem. Achieving highly efficient and selective adsorption removal is an important challenge. Inspired by the adsorption filtration function of the kidney by its hierarchical porous organ structure, we have fabricated a bioinspired hierarchical porous polymer (P5HPP) by introducing the intrinsic molecular cavity of pillar[5]arene to porous organic polymers using a photoclick reaction. P5HPP possesses hierarchical nanoporous structures, abundant adsorption sites, and remarkable host–guest interactions. It can achieve the highly efficient and selective adsorption of methyl parathion in various pesticide solutions by specific host–guest binding (π–π interactions) between pillar[5]arene and methyl parathion. The adsorption efficiency of methyl parathion (10⁻⁴ M) can achieve nearly 99.1% by 0.5 mg mL⁻¹ P5HPP, and the maximum adsorption capacity reaches up to 148.58 mg g⁻¹, which is far superior to other reported pesticide adsorbents. In practical applications, P5HPP is used as the packing material of the adsorption columns to efficiently and rapidly remove 98.6% of methyl parathion (10⁻⁴ M) from water and alleviate pesticide poison for aquatic organisms. Because of its excellent adsorption performance, good stability, easy recyclability, and low cost, P5HPP is a superb adsorbent for pesticide pollutant treatment with great potential for application in water resource protection.