Polyurethane sponges bearing cucurbituril adsorb Cr(III) and Pb(II) ions from contaminated water samples.

Water contamination with toxic metals causes harmful effects on the environment and to human health. Although cucurbiturils have carboxyl groups in their portal that can interact with metal ions, there is a lack of studies about their use as metal adsorbent. This scenario has motivated conduction of the present study, which addresses the use of cucurbit[6]uril (CB[6]) and cucurbit[8]uril (CB[8]) for adsorbing Pb and Cr from water samples, in free forms and immobilized in poly(urethane) sponges.

Enhanced Li charge storage in naphthalene diimide/vanadium pentoxide intercalates.

,'-Bis(4-aminophenyl)-1,4,5,8-naphthalene diimide (NDI-ph) was intercalated into lamellar vanadium pentoxide (VO) in different amounts to prepare hybrid intercalates. The presence of the imide supports the material's ability to form lithium salts with the structural stabilization of the oxide matrix. This effect is remarkable in charge/discharge cycles in terms of Li uptake and discharge by the lamellar intercalates, as we could double the ion uptake capacity (1.