Preparation of Palladium(II) Ion-Imprinted Polymeric Nanospheres and Its Removal of Palladium(II) from Aqueous Solution

Three kinds of functional monomers, 4-vinylpridine(4-VP), 2-(allylthio)nicotinic acid(ANA), and 2-Acetamidoacrylic acid(AAA), were used to synthetize palladium(II) ion-imprinted polymeric nanospheres (Pd(II) IIPs) via precipitation-polymerization method in order to study the effects of different functional monomers on the adsorption properties of ion-imprinted materials. The results of UV spectra in order to study the interaction between template ion PdCl(4) (2−) and functional monomers showed that there were great differences in structure after the template reacted with three functional monomers, 4-VP and ANA caused a large structural change, while AAA basically did not change. Further results on the adsorption performance of Pd(II) IIPs on Pd(II) confirmed 4-VP was the most promising candidate for the synthesis of Pd(II) IIPs with an adsorption capacity of 5.042 mg/g as compared with ANA and AAA. The influence of operating parameters on Pd(II) IIP’s performance on Pd(II) adsorption was investigated. There was an increase in the adsorption capacity of Pd(II) IIPs at higher pH, temperature, and initial concentration of Pd(II). The results of multi-metal competitive adsorption experiments showed that Pd(II) IIPs had selectivity for Pd(II). An adsorption equilibrium could be reached at 180 min. Kinetic analysis showed that the adsorption test data fitted best to the pseudo-second order kinetic model, and the theoretical equilibrium adsorption capacity was about 5.085 mg/g. The adsorption isotherms of Pd(II) by Pd(II) IIPs agreed well with the Freundlich equation, suggesting a favorable adsorption reaction under optimal conditions. These results showed that Pd(II) IIPs have potential application in the removal of Pd(II) from aqueous solutions and may provide some information for the selection of functional monomers in the preparation of Pd(II) IIPs.