Preparation and adsorption properties of the chelating resins containing carboxylic, sulfonic, and imidazole groups

Abstract The crosslinked poly(1‐vinylimidazole‐ co ‐acrylic acid), P(VIm‐ co ‐AA), and poly(1‐vinylimidazole‐ co ‐2‐acrylamido‐2‐methyl‐1‐propane sulfonic acid) P(VIm‐ co ‐APSA) were synthesized by radical polymerization and tested as adsorbents under competitive and noncompetitive conditions for Cu(II), Cd(II), Hg(II), Zn(II), Pb(II), and Cr(III) by batch equilibrium procedure. The resin–metal ion equilibrium was achieved before 1 h. The resin P(VIm‐ co ‐AA) showed a maximum retention capacity (MRC) value for Pb(II) at pH 3 and Hg(II) at pH 1 of 1.1 and 1.2 mEq/g, respectively, and the resin P(VIm‐ co ‐AA) showed at pH 3 the following MRC values: Hg(II) (1.5 mEq/g), Cd(II) (1.9 mEq/g), Zn(II) (2.7 mEq/g), and Cr(III) (2.8 mEq/g). The recovery of the resin was investigated at 25°C with 1 M and 4 M HNO 3 and 1 M and 4 M HClO 4 . © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 89: 2852–2856, 2003