Adsorption Behavior of Cu(II) Ions on Crosslinked Chitosan/Polyvinyl Alcohol Ion Imprinted Membrane

Abstract

A self-supported ion imprinted membrane (IIM) adsorbent was synthesized via crosslinking of blended chitosan/polyvinyl alcohol (CS/PVA) with glutaraldehyde (GA) as crosslinker and copper ions as template via the solution casting method. The prepared membrane was used as adsorbent to evaluate Cu(II) ions adsorption from aqueous solutions. The metal ion equilibrium concentrations were determined and Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were applied to fit to the experimental data. Finally, adsorption kinetics were examined using pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, and intra-particle diffusion models. It was found out that adsorption behavior of Cu(II) ions via the IIM adsorbent match well with Freundlich isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic models. Reusability of the adsorptive Cu(II) imprinted membrane was confirmed via five sorption–regeneration cycles using HCl 0.5 mol L−1 as desorbing agent. The SEM analysis showed that Cu(II) ions can be well adsorbed by the IIM adsorbent.