Polyacrylonitrile Crosslinked with Diethylenetriamine and Its Use for the Removal of Lead Ions from Aquatic Systems

Abstract

AbstractLead ions have become a pivotal concern for the global community and spurred a wide spectrum of research for the development of new generation decontamination materials. Herein, a highly effective detoxifying materials is presented for the removal of lead ion. Chelating beads of macroporous acrylonitrile‐ethyleneglycoldimethacrylate copolymer was prepared using suspension polymerization method and it was modified using diethylenetriamine to improve its ability to remove lead ions from aqueous solutions. The amine modified beads were used to extract lead ions by batch methodology at pH (5.0), the experiment was done at room temperature with varied metal concentrations ranging from (4.8309 to 2.4154 mmol L−1). In the single metal system, polyacrylonitrile diethylene‐triamine (PAN‐DETA) was found to adsorb lead ions. Functionalized polymer was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR) to know the functional group of polymers. The morphology and rise in nitrogen content of functionalized polymer was investigated using scanning electron microscope and an X‐ray energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM‐EDX). The morphology of the beads changed little when they were reacted to diethylenetriamine, as confirmed by a SEM image. According to a kinetics study, maximal sorption occurred within one hour.