Studies on adsorption mechanism of CuII and NiII onto polymeric resins

Department of Chemistry, Arya Vidyapeeth College, Guwahati-781 016, Assam, India

E-mail: monalisaikia@hotmail.com                         Fax: 91-361-244065

Manuscript received 11 February 2018, revised 26 May 2018, accepted 31 May 2018

The determination of low level of metal ions in environmental samples and their selective separation from wastewater by us­ing commercially available polymeric resins is the most prominent one due to their favorable stability and structural diversity that allow to modulate their adsorption capacity and selectivity. In this study, we have attempted to elucidate the adsorption mechanism of Cu^II and Ni^II onto the polymeric resins by corroborating the experimental observations with theoretical results. It was found that electrostatic interaction and chemisorption involving C=O group were the major mechanisms for adsorption of the metal ions onto Amberlite XAD-7 and Diaion HP-2MG. Adsorption onto Amberlite XAD-4 was mainly due to the partici­pation C=C group present on the adsorbent surface. FTIR analysis supported the participation of C=O and C=C groups dur­ing Cu^II and Ni^II adsorption.