Poly(2-acrylamido glycolic acid): A water-soluble polymer with ability to interact with metal ions in homogenous phase

A water-soluble polymer, poly(2-acrylamido glycolic acid) was obtained by radical polymerization and characterized by FT-IR, ¹H NMR, and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. The metal ion retention properties were investigated through the liquid-phase polymer based retention (LPR) technique at different pHs and filtration factor Z. The affinity of the ligand groups for the metal ions depends strongly on the pH. At lower pH, the retention is lower than 50%, which increased as the pH increased. At pH 5, the polymer showed a high affinity and selectivity for Pb(II), and at pH 7 the P(AGA) formed stable complexes with Cu(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cd(II), and Pb(II). Of the three potential ligand groups, amide, hydroxyl, and carboxylate groups, the carboxylate groups form the more stable complexes with the metal ions.