Synthesis of ultrasonic-assisted lead ion imprinted polymer as a selective sorbent for the removal of Pb2+ in a real water sample

In the present study, a novel Pb2+ ion-imprinted polymers (Pb-IIPs) were synthesized by a simple and facile one pot ultrasonic assisted precipitation polymerization method used for the first time. The polymerization reaction time decreases about 5 folds using ultrasonic energy as compared to the conventional method. Synthesized polymers were characterized for their surface morphology, functionality, and elemental composition by SEM, FT-IR and EDX. Adsorption mechanism was best described by Langmuir isotherm followed pseudo second order kinetics. Interfering ions study suggested that the effect of other co-existing ions at a given concentration was negligible. The reusability and selectivity of the synthesized Pb-IIP were also assessed. Good linearity in the concentration range of (2-50) mu g L-1 was achieved. Limit of quantification (LOQ) and detection (LOD) was 1.9 and 0.59 mu g L-1 respectively. Validation of the developed procedure was carried out by using certified reference material and spiking addition method in real samples, and the results were found to be in good agreement with spiking values. The prepared material was successfully applied to real water samples for selective removal of Pb2+ ions.