Bipolar and NIR-Responsive Polyurethane Microspheres as a Bifunctional Adsorbent for Simultaneous Capture of Bacteria and Removal of Dyes: Dataset

Hospital wastewater contains complex pollutants, including residual organic dyes and antibiotic-resistant pathogens, posing severe risks to ecosystems and human health. Conventional adsorbents, constrained by monopolar functional groups and limited surface sites, fail to remove both pollutants simultaneously. Here, we report an intelligent responsive polyurethane microsphere adsorbent doped with diallyl dimethylammonium chloride modified carbon nanotubes, termed as PUCD microspheres. The PUCD integrates bipolar adsorption sites, tunable micrometer-scale pores, and a near-infrared (NIR)-triggered in-situ capture mechanism within a single platform, which achieves up to 98.3% dye removal, maintains strong adsorption performance across a wide pH range and retains 83.3% efficiency for rhodamine B after five cycles. Notably, the PUCD employs a temperature-responsive phase transition: under NIR irradiation, the microspheres undergo shrinkage, reducing the pore size to generate a ‘polymer trap’, enabling in-situ capture of bacteria with >99% efficiencies for both Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. By immobilizing live bacteria, the PUCD microspheres substantially reduces the risk of pathogen desorption and toxin release. This promising platform offers a safe, efficient, and single-stage strategy for hospital wastewater purification, enabling the simultaneous elimination of dyes and pathogenic bacteria.