Efficient phosphate adsorption from eutrophic waters remains challenging, fundamentally due to inherent trade-off in common adsorbents: high-binding energy between adsorbent and phosphate compromises reusability while low-binding energy suppresses selectivity. Herein, an innovative arginine-functionalized imprinted aerogel (AFIA-1:4) was fabricated by click chemistry and imprinting modification for overcoming this trade-off through synergistic weak interactions. Results shown that AFIA-1:4 exhibited high adsorption capacity (Qmax of 40.65 mg/g, 30.44 % higher than phoslock), rapid kinetics (15 min), and broad pH applicability (3–11) at 2 mg P/L solution. Moreover, its selectivity coefficient ranged from 10 to 90 even with 15- to 125-fold excess interfering anions, surpassing common adsorbents. After 10 cycles, AFIA-1:4 still maintained 98.15 % regeneration rate with 99.14 % phosphate desorption. Characterizations and calculations confirmed core roles of multiple hydrogen bonds and shape screening in maintaining selectivity and reusability. These findings advanced development of next-generation of phosphate adsorbents, which contributed to sustainable prevention and management of eutrophication.

中文翻译：

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弱相互作用策略能够增强精氨酸功能化印迹气凝胶的选择性和可重用性，用于磷酸盐吸附


从富营养化水域中高效吸附磷酸盐仍然具有挑战性，这主要是由于常见吸附剂的固有权衡：吸附剂和磷酸盐之间的高结合能损害了可重用性，而低结合能抑制了选择性。在此，通过点击化学和印记修饰制备了一种创新的精氨酸官能化印迹气凝胶 （AFIA-1：4），以通过协同弱相互作用克服这种权衡。结果表明，AFIA-1：4 在 2 mg P/L 溶液中表现出高吸附容量（Qmax 为 40.65 mg/g，比磷锁高 30.44%）、快速动力学（15 分钟）和广泛的 pH 适用性 （3-11）。此外，即使过量干扰阴离子有 15 至 125 倍，其选择性系数也在 10 至 90 之间，超过了普通吸附剂。10 次循环后，AFIA-1：4 仍保持 98.15% 的再生率和 99.14% 的磷酸盐脱附率。表征和计算证实了多个氢键和形状筛选在保持选择性和可重用性方面的核心作用。这些发现推进了下一代磷酸盐吸附剂的开发，有助于可持续预防和管理富营养化。