Synthesis of crosslinked methacrylic acid-co-ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate polymers for the removal of copper and nickel from water

Abstract

Crosslinked copolymers based on methacrylic acid and ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate were prepared by suspension polymerization and investigated for their ability to remove copper and nickel at trace level from heavy metal polluted water. The copolymers were characterized for physico-chemical properties like surface area, porosity and scientific weight capacity. The Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms were used to represent the experimental data. Saphn-Schlunder and Morris-Webber models applied to determine the external and intraparticle diffusion coefficients. The absorption process follows first order kinetics and the specific rate constant <i>K_r</i>was obtained by the application of Lagergan equation. Concentration ratios of 1:60 and 1:30 have been achieved for nickel and copper respectively under dynamic conditions.