Polarographic determination of uranyl adsorption onto poly(acrylamide-g-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) hydrogels in the presence of cadmium and lead

Abstract

Poly(acrylamide-g-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) [P(AAm-g-EDTA)] hydrogels with various compositions were prepared from ternary mixtures of acrylamide, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and water by using 60Co γ-rays. This study showed that P(AAm-g-EDTA) hydrogels adsorb heavy metal ions such as UO 2 2+ in the presence of Pb 2+ and Cd 2+ selectively at certain pH’s. The external stimuli of pH, temperature and ionic strength play an important role on the adsorption behavior. Since a very sensitive electro-analytical technique, differential pulse polarography (DPP) was used for determination of UO 2 2+ adsorbed onto hydrogels (0.1–3.2 mg/g dry gel) from 5.0 mg/l aqueous solution without interfering Pb 2+ and Cd 2+ at certain pH’s. These hydrogels can be used directly as UO 2 2+ selective adsorbent for water and environmental pollutants without any pre-concentration techniques.