Morphology Control of Novel Cross-Linked Ferrocenedimethanol Derivative Cyclophosphazenes: From Microspheres to Nanotubes and Their Enhanced Physicochemical Performances

Polyphosphazenes have grabbed focal attention in materials research due to their structural diversity, intrinsic backbone stability, and capability to form hybrid molecules. Herein, for the first time, we report morphology-controlled cross-linked hybrid nanotubes and microspheres composed of a novel iron-containing poly(ferrocenedimethano)-cyclotriphosphazene synthesized via a facile polycondensation between 1,1'-ferrocenedimethanol and hexachlorocyclotriphosphazene. The morphology was tuned by introducing two sets of mixed solvent systems that are tetrahydrofuran:acetonitrile and acetone:toluene mixtures, for the growth of nanotubes and microspheres, respectively. A growth mechanism for nanotubes and microspheres has been proposed. The nanotubes exhibited intrinsic paramagnetic properties (saturation magnetization of 53 emu/g and coercivity of 19.6) and fluorescence emission (2450 au) as compared to microspheres owing to their remarkable cross-linked structure. Both nanotubes and microspheres demonstrated significant potential to absorb negatively charged hazardous methyl orange dye, and their adsorption capacities came out under the range of 880-2235 and 737-2125 mg g(-1), respectively. This facile fabrication route is anticipated to open a new window for structural manipulation of other metal-containing polymers for improved physicochemical properties.