Heavy metal ions removal from water using a smart polyurethane/acrylic hybrid

FRANCISCO M. PARDINI; PAULA A. FACCIA; JAVIER I. AMALVY

JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE

JOHN WILEY & SONS INC

Lugar: New York; Año: 2018 vol. 135

0021-8995

Heavy metalcontamination is certainly one of the most serious environmental problemstoday. In the present work, polymer films with pH-responsive properties wereused for the removal of heavy metals from aqueous solution. These polymers wereprepared using different amounts of 2-(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate (DEA),and a polyurethane based on isophorone diisocyanate (PU) to obtainpH-responsive hybrid films of PU/DEA. Equilibrium sorption characteristics of Cu2+ and Zn2+ on polymer films were evaluated throughbatch studies. Hybrid systems were characterized by using FTIR, UV-Visible andmicroscopy techniques. The effect of pH, initial metal ion concentration andhybrid film composition on the extent of sorption were investigated. Maximumremoval of Cu2+ and Zn2+ in hybrid systems was at pH 4.0,for 250 mg/L initial concentration of each ion, and for the hybrid system withmore proportion of DEA (50 wt. %). Polymer systemsshowed greater selectivity for Zn2+ than for Cu2+, and the equilibrium sorption data were satisfactorily fitted toLangmuir sorption isotherm model. Characterization techniques revealedthat functional groups of DEA, in hybrid systems, are the main sorption sitesfor the metal ions.