Reusability and selective adsorption of Pb2+ on chitosan/P(2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid-co-acrylic acid) hydrogel

Abstract

Reusability and selective adsorption toward Pb2+ with the coexistence of Cd2+, Co2+, Cu2+ and Ni2+ ions on chitosan/P(2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid-co-acrylic acid) [CS/P(AMPS-co-AA)] hydrogel, a multi-functionalized adsorbent containing –NH2, –OH, –COOH and –SO3H groups was studied. The CS/P(AMPS-co-AA) was prepared in aqueous solution by a simple one-step procedure using glow discharge electrolysis plasma technique. The reusability of adsorbent in HNO3, EDTA-2Na and EDTA-4Na was investigated in detail. The competitive adsorption of the metal ions at the initial stage was compared between their equal mass concentration and equal molar concentration. In addition, the adsorption mechanism of the adsorbent for adsorption of Pb2+ was also analyzed by XPS. The results showed that the optimum pH of adsorption was 4.8, and time of adsorption equilibrium was about 180 min. Adsorption kinetics fitted well in the pseudo second-order model. The equilibrium adsorption capacities of Pb2+, Cd2+, Co2+, Cu2+, and Ni2+ at pH 4.8 were obtained as 673.3, 358.3, 176.7, 235.0 and 171.7 mg g−1, in their given order. The adsorbent displayed an excellent reusability using 0.015 mol L−1 EDTA-4Na solution as the eluent, and the desorption ratio could not correctly reflect the true characteristics of adsorption/desorption process. Moreover, the adsorbent showed good adsorption selectivity for Pb2+. The molar adsorption capacity at the initial stage with equal molar concentration was more reliable than the mass adsorption capacity during the study of selective adsorption. According to the XPS results, the adsorption of Pb2+ ions by the CS/P(AMPS-co-AA) absorbent could be attributed to the coordination between N atom and Pb2+ and ion-exchange between Na+ and Pb2+.