Synthesis of polyaminophosphonic acid-functionalized poly(glycidyl methacrylate) for the efficient sorption of La(III) and Y(III)

Abstract

After synthesis of parent PGMA micro-particles by dispersion polymerization method, diethylenetriamine (DETA) is grafted on the polymer (DETA-PGMA). In the last step, methylene phosphonic groups are grafted on DETA-PGMA by reaction of phosphonic acid groups onto amine functions in the presence of formaldehyde to produce polyaminophosphonic acid sorbent (PPA-PGMA). The sorbent is characterized by elemental analysis, FTIR spectrometry, XPS, XRD, TG-TDA and SEM-EDX analyses. The sorption properties of the material are tested for the sorption of La(III) and Y(III): the effect of pH on sorption performance is investigated before studying uptake kinetics, sorption isotherms (and thermodynamics), metal desorption and sorbent recycling. Maximum sorption capacities reach up to 0.79 mmol La g−1 and 0.73 mmol Y g−1 at pH 5 (optimum initial pH value). Sorption isotherms are characterized by a saturation plateau: the Langmuir equation fits well data. The sorption on micron-sized particles is fast and equilibrium is reached within 3–4 h: the kinetic profiles are modelled by the Crank equation (resistance to intraparticle diffusion) though the pseudo-first order rate equation fits well experimental data. Nitric acid (0.5 M) solutions can be used for metal recovery and the sorbent is re-used for at least 6 cycles of sorption and desorption with limited decrease in performance (less than 7%). The sorbent has a preference at pH 5 for La(III) vs. Y(III) but the selectivity coefficient is not high enough for potentiating the selective separation of the two metals.