Development of an anion imprinted polymer for high and selective removal of arsenite from wastewater

• Published in: The Science of the total environment Vol. 639; pp. 110 - 117
• Main Authors: Fang, Lili, Min, Xiaoye, Kang, Renfei, Yu, Haiyan, Pavlostathis, Spyros G., Luo, Xubiao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 15.10.2018
• Subjects: Adsorption; Anions; Arsenites - analysis; As(III); Bulk polymerization; Cyclic functional monomer; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Kinetics; Macrocyclic effect; Polymers - chemistry; Waste Disposal, Fluid - methods; Waste Water - chemistry; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; Bulk polymerization; Adsorption; Macrocyclic effect; As(III); Cyclic functional monomer
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.05.103
• ISSN: 0048-9697

A novel cyclic functional monomer (CFM) was used to develop an As(III)-ion imprinted polymer (As-IIP). CFM possesses a positively charged imidazolium moiety and its specific cyclic size matches that of As(III). Batch adsorption experiments showed that the As-IIP has a maximum As(III) adsorption capacity of 55 mg/g, while that of the control polymer (CP) is only 25 mg As(III)/g. Adsorption isotherms for As(III) agree with the Langmuir model, suggesting monolayer adsorption. Kinetic studies showed that the adsorption process followed pseudo-second-order kinetics. The relative selectivity coefficients of As-IIP compared to CP for Cl−/H2AsO3−, SO42−/H2AsO3−, HPO42−/H2AsO3−, NO3−/H2AsO3−, and Mo7O246−/H2AsO3− are 1.03, 1.95, 2.55, 1.52 and 2.51, respectively. The removal efficiency of As-IIP for As(III) in actual industrial wastewater was nearly 100%, which confirms that As-IIP has a high adsorption capacity as well as selectivity for the removal of As(III) from wastewater. [Display omitted] •As(III)-ion imprinted polymer (As-IIP) developed for selective As(III) adsorption.•As-IIP has a maximum As(III) adsorption capacity of 55 mg/g at pH 8.•Langmuir adsorption isotherms suggest monolayer As(III) adsorption.•As(III) adsorption on As-IIP followed pseudo-second-order kinetics.•9.8% decrease of As-IIP adsorption capacity after five adsorption-desorption cycles.