Imidazolium functionalized polysulfone/DTPA-chitosan composite beads for simultaneous removal of Cr(VI) and Cu(II) from aqueous solutions

Simultaneous removal of chromium(VI) oxyanions and heavy metal cations from contaminated water body is of great significance. In this work, a novel and bifunctional sorbent, imidazolium functionalized polysulfone/DTPA-chitosan composite bead (IMPSF/DACS) was successfully constructed by phase inversion method and applied for co-removal of Cr(VI) and Cu(II) from aqueous solutions. The maximum adsorption capacities for Cr(VI) and Cu (II) on IMPSF/DACS in single system at pH 5 were 56.72 and 43.05 mg g-1, respectively. In binary system, the removal of Cr(VI) could be further enhanced by the presence of Cu(II) due to the electrostatic shielding effect, while Cu(II) sorption was not significantly affected by the coexistence of Cr(VI). Moreover, IMPSF/DACS could simultaneously reduce low concentrations of Cu(II) and Cr(VI) in simulated contaminated lake water below the limit, while also showing good reusability in co-removal of Cr(VI) and Cu(II). The order of inhibitory effect of competing anions on Cr(VI) removal was as follows: H2PO4- < Cl- < NO3- < SO42-, while the competing hardness cations had a little effects on the adsorption of Cu(II), implying that the Cr(VI) removal was mainly depended on the electrostatic attraction between Cr(VI) and imidazolium ions modified on IMPSF/DACS, and Cu(II) uptake was associated with chelation of DACS encapsulated in IMPSF/DACS beads. These assumptions were confirmed by XPS, FTIR and EDS-mapping techniques.

Automated summary

Simultaneous removal of Cr(VI) and Cu(II) was achieved using a novel IMPSF/DACS sorbent, which exhibited high adsorption capacities for both ions. The presence of Cu(II) enhanced the removal of Cr(VI), while the presence of Cr(VI) had little effect on Cu(II) sorption. IMPSF/DACS also demonstrated effective removal of low concentrations of Cr(VI) and Cu(II) from simulated contaminated lake water, with good reusability.