Removal of toxic heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions using amine containing resins based on polyacrylonitrile

In the present research, amine containing resins based on polyacrylonitrile (PAN-DTA) were prepared through the reaction of polyacrylonitrile with various volume percents of diethylenetriamine (DTA), (50 and 100 v/v in water). The prepared resins were used to remove Ni(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II) ions from aqueous solutions. The sorption behaviors of the resins for these ions showed that the greater amounts of sorption were obtained at higher solution pH values. The highest sorption of PAN-DTA50 and PAN-DTA100 were determined 2.6 and 5 mmol/g for Cu(II), 1.9 and 3 mmol/g for Ni(II) and 1.8 and 3 mmol/g for Zn(II), respectively. The resins and their metal complexes have been studied by FT-IR spectroscopy, scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and thermal gravimetry analysis (TGA).

Keywords:

Polyacrylonitrile , diethylenetriamine , PAN-DTA resin , metal sorption