Ag+ ions imprinted cryogels for selective removal of silver ions from aqueous solutions

Abstract

ABSTRACT The removal of heavy metal ions from aquatic media or any conditions is crucial. Silver ions turn out to be the important example of this problem on earth when these are released to the environment. In the present study, silver ions (Ag+) imprinted poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA)-based cryogels were prepared using N-methacryloyl-L-cysteine as functional monomer, to be chelated with Ag+ ions. The maximum adsorption capacity of Ag+-imprinted polymeric cryogel was found to be 49.27 mg/g from aqueous solutions. To investigate the affinity of Ag+-imprinted PHEMAC cryogel column, photographic film material from the natural silver ion source was used. The recovery results were 72.8% for the Ag+-imprinted PHEMAC cryogel and 0.62% for the non-imprinted PHEMAC cryogels. These values clearly showed the selectivity of the Ag+-imprinted PHEMAC cryogel column. The adsorption–desorption cycle was performed more 10 times with use of the same Ag+-imprinted PHEMAC cryogel for the determination of reuse. These molecularly imprinted cryogels were used in adsorption process for a long time with no significant loss.