imprint:
Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2024
Published in:Nature Communications
Language:
English
DOI:
10.1038/s41467-024-45486-7
ISSN:
2041-1723
Origination:
Footnote:
Description:
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Highly efficient decontamination of elemental mercury (Hg<jats:sup>0</jats:sup>) remains an enormous challenge for public health and ecosystem protection. The artificial conversion of Hg<jats:sup>0</jats:sup> into mercury chalcogenides could achieve Hg<jats:sup>0</jats:sup> detoxification and close the global mercury cycle. Herein, taking inspiration from the bio-detoxification of mercury, in which selenium preferentially converts mercury from sulfoproteins to HgSe, we propose a biomimetic approach to enhance the conversion of Hg<jats:sup>0</jats:sup> into mercury chalcogenides. In this proof-of-concept design, we use sulfur-rich polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) as the Hg<jats:sup>0</jats:sup> transporter. The relatively stable, sulfur-linked aromatic rings result in weak adsorption of Hg<jats:sup>0</jats:sup> on the PPS rather than the formation of metastable HgS. The weakly adsorbed mercury subsequently migrates to the adjacent selenium sites for permanent immobilization. The sulfur-selenium pair affords an unprecedented Hg<jats:sup>0</jats:sup> adsorption capacity and uptake rate of 1621.9 mg g<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup> and 1005.6 μg g<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup> min<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup>, respectively, which are the highest recorded values among various benchmark materials. This work presents an intriguing concept for preparing Hg<jats:sup>0</jats:sup> adsorbents and could pave the way for the biomimetic remediation of diverse pollutants.</jats:p>