Separation of Yttrium from Aqueous Solution Using Ionic Imprinted Polymers

In the present study, yttrium(III) ion imprinted polymers (Y(III)-IIPs) and non-imprinted polymers (and non-Y(III)-IIPs) materials were synthesized. The materials were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM)-EDS studies. Characterization by FTIR showed that the IIPs have been successfully synthesized as indicated by the absence of a peak for the alkene functional group at 3000–3300 cm–1. From the FTIR data and SEM-EDS images showed that Y(III) ions have been successfully released from the polymer. The retention properties by batch procedure showed that the adsorption capacity of Y(III)-IIPs was 10.26 mg/g at pH 7 with a contact time of 10 min. Y(III) ions adsorption onto Y(III)-IIPs follows the Langmuir adsorption isotherm with a correlation coefficient of 0.9671, which showed a maximum adsorption capacity value of 14.68 mg/g and follows the Lagergren pseudo-second order kinetics model. The IIPs materials selectivity against other rare earth metals showed a better selectivity than NIPs.