Synthesis of ion-imprinted polymer for selective separation of copper (ii) from metal ions mixture

Ion imprinted polymers (IIPs) draw great attention in various fields because of powerful selectivity to the target metal ions. Thus, the synthesis of copper-ion imprinted polymer (Cu-IIP) was performed by using copper ion and complexing agent rufigallol with ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) and 2,2-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN). Aqueous HCl was used to leach Cu2+ ions from the imprinted polymer for creation of cavities of template, which is utilized for cooper ions adsorption with high selectivity. The IIP were characterized using ICP-MS, FE-SEM and also solid state analysis by UV-visible NIR spectroscopy. FT-IR study confirmed the successful complexation of Cu-IIP. The optimum pH was found to be 6 and highest adsorption capacity was estimated about 112.5 mg g-1. Thus, IIP gave good selectivity to copper ions in presence of other transition metals and also IIP can be regenerated for eight times without a subst-antial loss in adsorption capacity