METAL COMPLEXING PROPERTIES OF WATER-SOLUBLE POLY(N-MALEYL GLYCINE) STUDIED BY THE LIQUID-PHASE POLYMER-BASED RETENTION (LPR) TECHNIQUE

The separation of various metal ions by the water-soluble N-maleyl gly cine polymer in conjunction with membrane filtration was investigated. The method is based on the retention of inorganic ions by this polyme r in a membrane filtration cell and subsequent separation of low-molec ular-weight species from the polymer complex formed. It is shown that poly(N-maleyl glycine) can bind several metal ions in aqueous solution at pH 3. At higher pH, the water-soluble polymer can be applied to th e separation and preconcentration of many metal ions. In addition, the maximum capacity values of the homopolymer for copper(II) were invest igated and compared in the presence of various metal ions at different pHs.