Synthesis and Hg2+ removal ability of renewable furfurylamine-derived bio-polythioureas

Petroleum-derived polythioureas (PTUs) are typical functional polymers that have been applied as essential materials in the optoelectric and environmental fields. The design and preparation of sustainable PTUs are the current focus in this field. In the present study, we first proposed that PTUs can be prepared from bisfuran diamines by solution polymerisation with CS2 without any catalyst. The diamine monomers were prepared from renewable furfurylamine, which enabled the final PTUs to be sustainable. The highest molecular weight of the resulting PTUs was 86.64 kg/mol, with a polydispersity of 1.32. The glass transition temperature (Tg) of PTU can be tuned by changing the spacer of monomers. All synthesised PTUs showed excellent thermal stability, and the char yield at 800 °C was > 40 %. Attractively, these PTUs are excellent Hg2+ ion capturers due to their thiourea structure.