Water decontamination by polyoxometalate-functionalized 3D-printed hierarchical porous devices

Abstract

The design of organic–inorganic hybrid composites has revolutionized application-driven materials design. Here, we show how hierarchically structured, 3D-printed ABS polymers can be surface-functionalized with lacunary polyoxometalate anions ([α-PW₉O₃₄]⁹⁻) featuring heavy-metal binding sites. The resulting composite is highly porous and can be used for the removal of transition-metal pollutants from water. Thus, a facile blueprint for decentralized production of water filtration devices is reported.