Hydrogels with Acid Groups for Removal of Copper(II) and Lead(II) Ions

Acrylamide-maleic acid (AAM-MA) hydrogels having high acid group content prepared with different maleic acid ratios were used for the removal of Cu(II) and Pb(II) ions from aqueous solutions in competitive and noncompetitive conditions. The effects of pH, time, and initial metal ion concentration on the metal ion adsorption capacity were investigated. The adsorption isotherm models were applied on experimental data and it is shown that the Freundlich equation was the best model for Cu(II) ion while the Langmuir isotherm model was the best one for Pb(II) ion. The stability constants of acrylamide-maleic acid hydrogel-Cu(II) and Pb(II) complexes were also determined by van den Berg/Ruzic transformation, and K values obtained were 1.60 × 10³ and 1.81 × 10³ for Cu(II) and Pb(II) ions, respectively. The experiments under competitive conditions showed that the hydrogels prefered Pb(II) ion and this preference increased with increasing of carboxylic acid group content (AGC) of polymers. It is stated that these hydrogels can be regenerated efficiently (>95%) and used repeatedly.