Amidoximation of acrylonitrile radiation-grafted onto low-density polyethylene and its physicochemical characterization

Membranes were prepared by the direct radiation grafting of acrylonitrile onto low-density polyethylene films. These grafted membranes were amidoximated using hydroxylamine hydrochloride in basic medium. The influence of monomer concentration and swelling behaviour of grafted membrane, amidoximated grafted membrane, and its sodium salt were also studied. Amidoximated grafted membranes and their copolymer–metal complexes of Cu(II) or Cr(III) were prepared. These membranes were characterized using different analysis techniques such as IR, UV and ESR spectrometry. The UV and ESR analyses revealed that the geometry structure for Cu(II) is square planar, while for Cr(III) it is octahedral. The amidoxime ligand was used for separating metal ions from aqueous solutions by a complexation process. The thermal stability of different membranes was investigated through TG analysis. It was found that the amidoxime-grafted membranes possess good hydrophilic properties that may make them promising candidated for some practical applications such as the recovery of metals from their aqueous systems.