Synthesis and Evaluation of a New Trianionic Surfactant for the Removal of Pb(II) by Flotation Method

Sodium (Z)-15-carboxylato-8-(2-(((Z)-3-carboxylatoacryloyl)oxy)ethyl)-4,13-dioxo-5,11,12-trioxa-8,16-diazahentriacont-2-enoate has been synthesized. The chemical structure was confirmed by FT-IR and (HNMR)-H-1 spectroscopy. The surface properties of the synthesized trianionic surfactant, including the critical micelle concentration (CMC), effectiveness (pi(cmc)), maximum surface excess (Gamma(max)), and minimum surface area (A(min)) were determined from surface tension measurements. The efficiency of the trianionic surfactant to remove Pb(II) was determined using a flotation cell at different surfactant concentrations (below, at and beyond the CMC). Flame atomic absorption spectroscopy was used to determine the initial and final concentrations of Pb(II) ions. At pH 6 and a foaming time of 2 hr, the removal efficiency of Pb(II) increases with increasing the trianionic surfactant concentration.