Magnetic Pb(II) Ion-Imprinted Polymer Prepared by Surface Imprinting Technique and its Adsorption Properties

A novel magnetic Pb(II) ion-imprinted polymer was prepared via surface ion-imprinting technique by using magnetic Fe3O4@SiO2 microspheres as supporter, Pb(II) as template ion, methacrylic acid and salicylaldoxime as monomers, and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as crosslinker. The product was characterized by FT-IR, VSM, XRD, and SEM. The adsorption experiments showed that the imprinted polymer was employed successfully in comparison with non-imprinted polymer. When the temperature was in a range of 277 K to 291 K the maximum adsorption was about 81.83 mg/g with an optimal pH 6.0. Its relative selectivity coefficient values of Pb(II)/Cu(II), Pb(II)/Zn(II), and Pb(II)/Cd(II) were 2.60, 6.38, and 7.89 times greater than the ones of the magnetic non-imprinted polymer. The Langmuir adsorption model was more favorable for M-IIP than Freundlich or Temkin adsorption models. The Scatchard analysis suggested that M-IIP was processed with two kinds of binding sites with different affinity. Thermodynamic experiment showed that the adsorption was a spontaneous and endothermic process for Pb(II). The mechanism for Pb(II) adsorption on the imprinted polymer was also investigated.