Preparation of novel arsenic-imprinted polymer for the selective extraction and enhanced adsorption of toxic As³⁺ ions from the aqueous environment

In this study, we prepare synthetic arsenic-imprinted polymer (As-IP) by simple precipitation polymerization method by using 4-vinyl pyridine and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate as ligand and functional monomer use for the selective elimination of arsenic (As³⁺) from the aqueous environment. To achieve maximum sorption capacity several factors, i.e., pH, agitation time, shaking speed and sorbent dose were optimized. This prepared polymer was characterized by using SEM, EDX and FT-IR. Adsorption isotherm and kinetic data of As³⁺ follow the Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The maximum sorption capacity of As-IP is 106.3 mg/g. The limit of detection and limit of quantification were found to be 0.87 and 2.9 µg/L, respectivley. The relative selectivity factors of As-IP as compared to NIP for As³⁺/Cr³⁺, As³⁺/Al³⁺, As³⁺/Ni²⁺, As³⁺/Cu²⁺, As³⁺/NO₃⁻, As³⁺/PO₄³⁻ and As³⁺/SO₄²⁻ were 1.445, 1.779, 1.469, 1.168, 1.481, 1.802 and 2.367, respectively. The adsorption efficiency of As³⁺ ions by using As-IP from real water samples was approximately 99% which shows that As-IP has good sorption capability and highly selective for the extraction of arsenic ions.

Graphical representation of As-IP