Synthesis and heavy metal ion adsorptivity of macroreticular chelating resins containing phosphono and carboxylic acid groups

Macroreticular copolymer beads were prepared by suspension polymerization o f 4-vinylbenzyl chloride (VBC), divinylbenzene (DVB) and monomers with carb oxylic ester groups like dibutyl maleate (DBM), dibutyl fumarate (DBF) and dibutyl itaconate (DBI) in the presence of toluene as diluent. The copolyme r beads were phosphorylated at the chiloromethylated phenyl rings with trie thyl phosphite and hydrolyzed by an aqueous sodium hydroxide solution; the hydrolysis on the bead surface converted carboxylic ester/phosphonate group s into carboxylic acid/phosphono groups, respectively. The investigations o n the metal ion chelation characteristics of the H-form copolymer beads rev ealed that they have good adsorptivity toward heavy metal ions like Pb2+, C d2+ and Cu2+, and poor adsorptivity toward ions like Hg2+ and UO22+. The ad sorptivity caused by the three carboxylic ester monomer derivatives was in the order DBM > DBI > DBF. Especially, the Na-form copolymer beads neutrali zed by alkali treatment were very available for the adsorption of all the m etal ions under investigation.