Anomalous effect of Cu2O and CuO deposit on the porosity of a macroreticular anion exchanger

Abstract When synthesizing copper compounds containing polymeric adsorbents, it was found that the two copper oxides, Cu2O and CuO, deposited in the skeleton of a strongly basic macroreticular anion exchanger (An) radically diminished the porosity of the obtained composites in relation to the host material. In order to investigate this phenomenon more closely, An/Cu2O and An/CuO (both based on the commercial anion exchanger Amberlite IRA900Cl), containing 8.6 and 8.2 wt% Cu, respectively, were subjected to scrutiny. The porous characteristics of the thermally dried and freeze-dried samples were determined using the N2 adsorption–desorption method and mercury intrusion porosimetry. The thermally dried samples lost their porosity and increased their bulk density in relation to the pure resin indicated a significant reduction in their volume. It was found that during drying, the grains shrank as much as the pores collapsed. The decay of the porous structure resulted from the surface morphology of the Cu2O and CuO particles and their tendency to agglomerate. Both freeze-dried samples retained the porous characteristics typical for macroporous anion exchangers. In contrast to the most popular hybrid ion exchangers containing hydrated polyvalent metal oxides (such FeOOH), An/Cu2O and An/CuO showed markedly strong volume contraction effect in relation to moisture content. Graphical abstract