Hypercrosslinked porous polymers for anion sequestration in home dialysis water purification

Overview

This solution addresses a critical water purification challenge for at-home dialysis by introducing neutral porous organic polymers (POPs) engineered to capture harmful anions directly from tap water. Conventional water treatment polymers often rely on anion exchange, which introduces unwanted counterions and reduces water purity. By embedding urea-based anion recognition groups within hypercrosslinked porous polymer scaffolds, these materials can selectively bind hypochlorite and chlorate anions along with their associated cations, bypassing the need for ion exchange. The result is higher-purity water suitable for at-home dialysis while avoiding the leaching of captured contaminants back into the treated stream.

Technical specifications

Key features and design principles:

• Neutral, insoluble hypercrosslinked polymers that function in aqueous environments without requiring ion exchange
• Urea functional groups that bind anions through dipolar and hydrogen bonding interactions
• Dual capture mechanism: chemisorption of hypochlorite via N-chlorourea formation, combined with adsorption of chlorate anions within the porous matrix
• High surface area nanoscale pore architecture that maximizes toxin loading per unit mass of polymer
• Hydrophobic hydrocarbon-based backbone that creates a favorable environment for anion recognition in water
• Regenerable material that can be reused, reducing long-term operating costs
• Low-cost, high-yielding polymerization suitable for scalable manufacturing

Technology readiness level

The underlying concept has been validated through prior work demonstrating that neutral anion-binding POPs with hydrophobic environments can effectively adsorb anionic compounds and associated cations from water. The next phase involves synthesizing and characterizing a series of hypercrosslinked urea-containing POPs, with planned validation of dual hypochlorite and chlorate capture performance. The technology is at an early-to-mid stage of development, with proof-of-concept established and ongoing work focused on expanding the polymer library and confirming performance metrics relevant to home dialysis water purification.