Grafting of poly[styrene‐co‐N‐(4‐vinylbenzyl)‐N,N‐diethylamine] polymer film onto the surface of silica microspheres and their application as an effective sorbent for lead ions

Amino containing polymer of polystyrene‐co‐N‐(4‐vinylbenzyl)‐N,N‐diethylamine] (PS‐co‐PVEA) was successfully grafted onto the surface of silica microspheres via the seed dispersion polymerization of styrene and N‐(4‐vinylbenzyl)‐N,N‐diethylamine in the presence of divinylbenzene employing the 3‐(methacryloxy)propyltrimethoxysilane activated silica microspheres as the seed. The polymerization led to thin chelating polymer films (30 nm) coated silica microspheres (silica@polymer) as determined by transmission electron microscopy. The synthesized silica@polymer composites were used as sorbents for lead ions (Pb²⁺). The adsorption properties, such as the pH effect, the adsorption kinetic, adsorption isotherm as well as the reuse of the silica@polymer sorbent were evaluated. The results demonstrated that the optimized adsorption condition was under neutral and the silica@polymer sorbent was efficient since it showed higher adsorption amounts (8.0 mg/g) and shorter adsorption equilibrium time (8 h) than that of the PS‐co‐PVEA microspheres and the pristine silica microspheres. Moreover, the silica@polymer sorbent was reusable even after four cycles of adsorption. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2014 , 131, 39973.