Synthesis of a new ion-imprinted polymer for selective Cr(VI) adsorption from aqueous solutions effectively and rapidly

Zhiyun Kong; Yajie Du; Junfu Wei; Huan Zhang; Longwei Fan

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2020.11.107

Synthesis of a new ion-imprinted polymer for selective Cr(VI) adsorption from aqueous solutions effectively and rapidly

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2021 Apr 15:588:749-760. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2020.11.107. Epub 2020 Nov 30.

Authors

Zhiyun Kong¹, Yajie Du², Junfu Wei³, Huan Zhang⁴, Longwei Fan²

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Separation Membranes and Membrane Processes/National Center for International Joint Research on Separation Membranes, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, China; School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, China; Tianjin Engineering Center for Safety Evaluation of Water & Safeguards Technology, Tianjin 300387, China. Electronic address: minikk@126.com.
² State Key Laboratory of Separation Membranes and Membrane Processes/National Center for International Joint Research on Separation Membranes, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, China; School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Separation Membranes and Membrane Processes/National Center for International Joint Research on Separation Membranes, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, China; School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Separation Membranes and Membrane Processes/National Center for International Joint Research on Separation Membranes, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, China; School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, China; Tianjin Engineering Center for Safety Evaluation of Water & Safeguards Technology, Tianjin 300387, China.

PMID: 33317852
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2020.11.107

Abstract

Removing hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) from aqueous solution is strategically important. A novel and selective adsorbent was synthesized using a high electron beam irradiation pre-grafting and post-surface ion imprinting method using Cr(VI) and polypropylene (PP) fibers as the template and substrates, respectively. The results obtained using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and thermogravimetric analysis (TG) indicated that the prepared sorbent was successfully synthesized. At the same time, the adsorption performances were studied through batch experiments. The results exhibited rapid adsorption kinetics, a wide working pH range, and excellent selectivity and regeneration. The equilibrium adsorption was achieved within 30 min, the maximum sorption capacity of Cr(VI)-IIPs was 156.5 mg g^-1 and partition coefficients (PC) was 0.591 mg g^-1 uM^-1 at 400 mg L^-1 initial concentration and 298 K. The relative selectivity coefficients of the ion-imprinted polymer (IIP) for Cr₂O₇^2-/HPO₄^2- and Cr₂O₇^2-/NO₃^- were 36.7 and 39.9, respectively. In addition, the prepared sorbent has a negligible loss in adsorption capacity after five cycles. IIP has good application prospects in the selective removal of Cr(VI) ions.

Keywords: High electron beam irradiation; PP fibers; Selectivity; Surface ion-imprinting.