An ion-imprinted polymer supported by attapulgite with a chitosan incorporated sol-gel process for selective separation of Ce(III)

The surface ion-imprinting concept and chitosan incorporated sol-gel process were applied to the synthesis of a new attapulgite-supported polymer for selective separation of Ce(III) from aqueous solution. The imprinting mechanism of prepared ion-imprinted polymer were discussed with the Characteristics of FF-IR and SEM. Results from the experiments of adsorption capacity and selectivity suggested that ion-imprinted polymer offered a fast kinetics for the adsorption of Ce(111) under the optimum conditions. Its maximum adsorption capacity was 38.02 mg/g, and the selective recognition towards Ce(III) was much higher than that of the non-imprinted polymer and attapulgite. The prepared functional polymer was shown to be promising for selective separation and enrichment of trace Ce(III) in environmental samples. (C) 2009 Yong Sheng Yan. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Chemical Society. All fights reserved.