Preparation and Modification of Biomass-Based Functional Rubbers for Removing Mercury(II) from Aqueous Solution

Biomass-based functional rubber adsorbents were designed and prepared via inverse vulcanization and post-modification. The plant rubber was synthesized with sulfur and renewable cottonseed oil as well as various micromolecular modifiers with nitrogen-containing functional groups. Results showed that types of nitrogen-containing functional groups and dosages of modifiers had a significant impact on the adsorption capacities of the resulting polymers for Hg2+. Notably, when the mass ratio of 2-aminoethyl methacrylate (AEMA) to sulfur was 0.05, the resulting polymer polysulfide-co-cottonseed oil modified by AEMA (SCOA2) showed the highest adsorption capacity (343.3 mg g−1) among all the prepared samples. Furthermore, the Hg2+ removal efficiency of SCOA2 remained over 80% of its original value after five adsorption-desorption cycles. It demonstrated a promising case for utilizing cheap industrial by-products (sulfur) and renewable materials (cottonseed oil). The prepared functional rubber provides alternative approach for mercury removal in waste utilization and sustainable chemistry.