Preparation of functionalized ion‐imprinted phenolic polymer for efficient removal of copper ions

In this work, an ion‐imprinted polymeric material based on functionalized phenolic resin was developed for the efficient selective removal of Cu²⁺ ions from aqueous solution. p‐Aminophenol‐isatin Schiff base ligand (HPIS) was first synthesized and combined with Cu²⁺ ions to prepare the corresponding complex Cu(PIS)₂]. The Schiff base ligand along with its copper complex was fully investigated and characterized before anchoring in a base‐catalyzed condensation copolymerization with formaldehyde and resorcinol. The Cu²⁺ ions were removed from the obtained resin construction and the resulting Cu²⁺ ion‐imprinted material (Cu‐PIS) was employed for the selective extraction of Cu²⁺ ions under different pH values, initial concentrations and contact time conditions. The optimum pH for the removal process was chosen as 6 and the maximum adsorption capacity was 187 ± 1 mg g^–1. Also, the kinetics showed a better fit with the pseudo‐second‐order equations. The selectivity of the prepared Cu‐PIS was also evaluated in a multi‐ionic species containing Ni²⁺, Cd²⁺, Pb²⁺, Co²⁺ besides Cu²⁺ ions and the determined parameters confirmed a superior recognition capability toward the imprinted Cu²⁺ ions. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry