Rapid Removal of Cd2+, Pb2+ and Cr3+ by Polymer/Fe3O4 Composite

Abstract

Polymer/Fe₃O₄ composite was synthesized via radical polymerization. Acrylamide was used as monomer and copolymerized with 1,3,5-triacryloylhexahydro-1,3,5-triazine in the presence of Fe₃O₄ particles. The obtained polymer was hydrolyzed by N,N,N’,N’-tetramethylethylenediamine to increase ionized groups amount. Dried and powdered composite was used for removal of Cd²⁺, Pb²⁺ and Cr³⁺ in batch mode. Also, the synthesized composite was trapped in a cellulose acetate membrane filter. The removal occurred in 3–5 s by using a syringe filter system. 97.9% for Cd²⁺, 95.7% for Cr³⁺ and 99.8% for Pb²⁺ removal rates were obtained in the experiment using 2.5 ppm of Cd²⁺, Cr³⁺, Pb²⁺ added to tap water at pH 6. The synthesized composite was characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared. The metal ion concentrations were measured by ICP-OES. The effects of pH, interaction time, shaking speed, ambient temperature, initial metal ion concentration, and amount of composite were also investigated. The reached removal percentage was 100% for Cd²⁺, Cr³⁺, Pb²⁺ under optimal conditions by using 0.25 g of composite in batch mode. The used initial metal ion concentration was 2.5 mg/L.