Cr(III)removal from aqueous solution byion exchange resins containing carboxylic acid and sulphonic acid groups

Abstract

Ion exchange resins based on the water-insoluble polymers poly(acrylamide-co-styrene sodium sulfonate) (P(AAm-co-ESS)), poly(2-acrylamide-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid-co-acrylicacid) (P(APSA-co-AAc)),poly(2-acrylamidoglycolic acid-co-2-acrylamide-2-methyl-1-propane sulfonic acid) (P(AAGA-co-APSA)), and poly(2-acrylamidoglycolic acid-co-4-styrene sodium sulfonate) (P(AAGA-co-ESS)) were synthesized by radical polymerization. These polymers were employed to remove Cr(III) from an aqueous solution. The optimum sorption parameters of amount of resin and sorption time were obtained through batch-mode sorption tests. Following batch elution tests to identify the best eluting agent. Finally,the column-mode sorption/elution behaviors of ion exchange resins were studied. The ion exchange resins exhibited excellent removal of Cr(III). The P(AAGA-co-APSA) resin exhibited 89.4% removal, while P(AAGA-co-ESS) displayed 88.3%, P(AAm-co-ESS) 86.8%, and P(APSA-co-AAc) 89.3%. The column-mode was studied by theP(AAGA-co-APSA) resingave a breakthrough capacity of 1.5 mg Cr(III)/mL resin in the first cycle. The elution efficiency was almost 100%. The breakthrough capacity was 1.2 mg Cr(III)/mL resin in the second cycle. The elution efficiency was 90.2% in the second cycle.