Ultrafiltration of metal ions by water‐soluble chelating poly(N‐acryloyl‐N‐methylpiperazine‐co‐N‐acetyl‐α‐aminoacrylic acid)

Water‐soluble copolymers of N‐acryloyl‐N‐methylpiperazine and N‐acetyl‐α‐aminoacrylic acid were synthesized by radical polymerization. The copolymerization yield ranged between 60 and 97%. The FTIR and NMR spectra demonstrated that the copolymerization occurred. The copolymer composition was determined from ¹H‐NMR spectra by comparison of methyl groups from both moieties. The copolymers were richest in AAA units. The metal ion retention properties were investigated by the liquid‐phase polymer‐based retention (LPR) technique at different pH and filtration factors. The affinity for the metal ions depended on the copolymer composition, pH, and filtration factor. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 83: 2556–2561, 2002