Synthesis, Characterization and Environmental Applications of a New Bio-Composite Gelatin-Zr(IV) Phosphate

Gelatin-Zr(IV) phosphate composite (GT/ZPC) was synthesized by sol-gel method. Different techniques viz. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray powdered diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used for the characterisation of GT/ZPC composite ion exchanger. The ion exchange capacity (IEC) of GT/ZPC was observed to be better (1.04 meq g(-1)) than its inorganic counterpart (0.64 meq g(-1)). The pH studies revealed the monofunctional nature of GT/ZPC with one inflection point. The distribution studies showed that the GT/ZPC was highly selective for Cd2+ as compare to other metal ions. The environmental applicability of ion exchanger has been analysed for binary separations of metal ions using column method. Cd2+ was effectively removed from synthetic mixture of metal ions (Zn2+, Pb2+, Ni2+, Co2+ and Cu2+).