Preparation of Eco-Friendly Chelating Resins and Their Applications for Water Treatment

Nicoleta Mirela Marin; Georgiana Dolete; Ludmila Motelica; Roxana Trusca; Ovidiu Cristian Oprea; Anton Ficai

doi:10.3390/polym15102251

Preparation of Eco-Friendly Chelating Resins and Their Applications for Water Treatment

Polymers (Basel). 2023 May 10;15(10):2251. doi: 10.3390/polym15102251.

Authors

Nicoleta Mirela Marin^{1

2}, Georgiana Dolete^{2

3}, Ludmila Motelica³, Roxana Trusca³, Ovidiu Cristian Oprea^{3

4

5}, Anton Ficai^{2

3

5}

Affiliations

¹ National Research and Development Institute for Industrial Ecology ECOIND, Street Podu Dambovitei no. 57-73, District 6, 060652 Bucharest, Romania.
² Science and Engineering of Oxide Materials and Nanomaterials, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnologies, University Politehnica of Bucharest, Gh. Polizu 1-7, 011061 Bucharest, Romania.
³ National Center for Micro and Nanomaterials, University Politehnica of Bucharest, 011061 Bucharest, Romania.
⁴ Inorganic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnologies, University Politehnica of Bucharest, Gh. Polizu 1-7, 011061 Bucharest, Romania.
⁵ Academy of Romanian Scientists, Ilfov Street 3, 050044 Bucharest, Romania.

Abstract

In the present study, two chelating resins were prepared and used for simultaneous adsorption of toxic metal ions, i.e., Cr³⁺, Mn²⁺, Fe³⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺, Cd²⁺, and Pb²⁺ (M^X+). In the first step, chelating resins were prepared starting with styrene-divinylbenzene resin, a strong basic anion exchanger Amberlite IRA 402(Cl^-) with two chelating agents, i.e., tartrazine (TAR) and amido black 10B (AB 10B). Key parameters such as contact time, pH, initial concentration, and stability were evaluated for the obtained chelating resins (IRA 402/TAR and IRA 402/AB 10B). The obtained chelating resins show excellent stability in 2M HCl, 2M NaOH, and also in ethanol (EtOH) medium. The stability of the chelating resins decreased when the combined mixture (2M HCl:EtOH = 2:1) was added. The above-mentioned aspect was more evident for IRA 402/TAR compared to IRA 402/AB 10B. Taking into account the higher stability of the IRA 402/TAR and IRA 402/AB 10B resins, in a second step, adsorption studies were carried out on complex acid effluents polluted with M^X+. The adsorption of M^X+ from an acidic aqueous medium on the chelating resins was evaluated using the ICP-MS method. The following affinity series under competitive analysis for IRA 402/TAR was obtained: Fe³⁺(44 µg/g) > Ni²⁺(39.8 µg/g) > Cd²⁺(34 µg/g) > Cr³⁺(33.2 µg/g) > Pb²⁺(32.7 µg/g) > Cu²⁺ (32.5 µg/g) > Mn²⁺(31 µg/g) > Co²⁺(29 µg/g) > Zn²⁺ (27.5 µg/g). While for IRA 402/AB 10B, the following behavior was observed: Fe³⁺(58 µg/g) > Ni²⁺(43.5 µg/g) > Cd²⁺(43 µg/g) > Cu²⁺(38 µg/g) > Cr³⁺(35 µg/g) > Pb²⁺(34.5 µg/g) > Co²⁺(32.8 µg/g) > Mn²⁺(33 µg/g) > Zn²⁺(32 µg/g), consistent with the decreasing affinity of M^X+ for chelate resin. The chelating resins were characterized using TG, FTIR, and SEM analysis. The obtained results showed that the chelating resins prepared have promising potential for wastewater treatment in the context of the circular economy approach.

Keywords: Amberlite IRA 402; adsorption; amido black 10B; chemical recycling; circular economy; interaction; metal ions; selectivity; tartrazine.

Abstract

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