Novel ionic liquid-modified polymers for highly effective adsorption of heavy metals ions

Two novel efficient and selective sorbents were proposed for the Cd(II), Zn(II) and Cu(II) removal from aqueous solutions. The porous organic poly(vinylbenzyl chloride-divinylbenzene) copolymer modified by means of quaternization with 1-(4-pyridyl)undecan-1-one and 1-(4-pyridyl)ethan-1-one were found to be highly effective in removal of Cu(II), Zn(II), and toxic Cd(II) from aqueous solutions. The efficiency of the process depended on the functionalised agent structure, as well as temperature, metal ions concentration and pH of the aqueous solutions. Moreover, adsorption isotherms and kinetics were studied to understand the mechanism of the synthesized sorbent. The thermodynamics studies showed that the removals of mentioned ions onto novel sorbents was facilitated at higher temperature. The maximum adsorption capacities of Cd(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II), were 67.5, 105.4, and 99.9 mg/g of the ionic liquid-modified polymer sorbents, respectively. Moreover, the studied sorbent can be regenerated without significant adsorption capacities loss.