Porous Poly(Ionic Liquid) Membranes as Efficient and Recyclable Absorbents for Heavy Metal Ions

Yongyuan Ren; Jiandong Zhang; Jiangna Guo; Fei Chen; Feng Yan

doi:10.1002/marc.201700151

Porous Poly(Ionic Liquid) Membranes as Efficient and Recyclable Absorbents for Heavy Metal Ions

Macromol Rapid Commun. 2017 Jul;38(14). doi: 10.1002/marc.201700151. Epub 2017 May 22.

Authors

Yongyuan Ren¹, Jiandong Zhang¹, Jiangna Guo¹, Fei Chen¹, Feng Yan¹

Affiliation

¹ Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Design and Application, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, China.

PMID: 28544020
DOI: 10.1002/marc.201700151

Abstract

Heavy metal ion pollution has become a serious environmental problem. Herein, this study reports the synthesis of poly(ionic liquid) (PIL) membranes via in situ photo-crosslinking of vinyl imidazole with both hydrophilic and hydrophobic ionic liquid monomers. The resultant amphiphilic polymer membranes are porous and exhibit high absorption capacity of metal ions (including Hg²⁺ , Pb²⁺ , Cu²⁺ , Cd²⁺ , and Zn²⁺ ) in both high (1000 mg L^-1 ) and low (10 mg L^-1 ) concentration metal ion solutions. These metal ionic absorption membranes are easily regenerated in acid solution and can be reused without significant decreases of absorption capacity after many cycles. These PIL membranes may have potential applications as eco-friendly and safe heavy metal ion removal materials.

Keywords: absorbents; density functional theory; metal ions; poly(ionic liquid) membrane; recyclable.

MeSH terms

Chemistry Techniques, Analytical
Ionic Liquids / chemistry*
Ions / chemistry
Membranes, Artificial*
Metals, Heavy / chemistry*
Metals, Heavy / isolation & purification*
Polymers / chemistry*

Substances

Ionic Liquids
Ions
Membranes, Artificial
Metals, Heavy
Polymers