Metal ion specificity studies of divinylbenzene (DVB)-crosslinked polyacrylamide-supported glycines in different structural environments were investigated. The effect of the degree of crosslinking on ...the specific rebinding of the desorbed metal ion was investigated towards Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), and Zn(II) ions. The metal ion-desorbed resins showed specificity for the desorbed metal ion and the specificity characteristics increases with an increasing degree of the crosslinking agent. The polymeric ligands and metal complexes were characterized by IR, UV-visible and EPR spectra, and by SEM analysis.
The swelling and solvation characteristics of the crosslinked polymers, polymeric ligands and metal complexes, the effect of the pH dependence on metal ion binding and rebinding and the kinetics of metal ion binding and rebinding were also followed. The complexation resulted in the downfield shift of the carboxylate peak in the IR spectra. The EPR parameters are in agreement with a distorted tetragonal geometry. The Cu(II) ion-desorbed resins selectively rebinds Cu(II) ions from a mixture of Cu(II) and Co(II) and Cu(II) and Ni(II) ions. The resin could be regenerated several times without loss of capacity and effective for the specific and selective rebinding of Cu(II) ions.
