Synthesis and Adsorption Properties of Gadolinium-Imprinted Divinylbenzene-Based Copolymers

[Image: see text] Ion-imprinted divinylbenzene and methacrylic acid copolymers for rare-earth element adsorption with crosslink ratios 60 and 40% have been synthesized. Ion imprinting has been carried out via the trapping approach. Alizarin red S has been incorporated in the polymers as a nonvinylated ligand. The obtained materials were characterized via scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Synthesized polymers exist as gel-type nonporous spherical agglomerates from 2 to 6 μm with low surface areas. The sorption properties of the synthesized polymers with respect to lanthanides in static and dynamic modes have been studied. The most efficiently synthesized materials extract rare earth elements from solutions at pH 4–7. The maximum sorption capacity of the obtained polymers with regard to Gd is around 0.5 mmol/g. According to the obtained results, the imprinted polymer with a crosslink ratio 60% is characterized by the highest values of distribution coefficients for lanthanides. The total lanthanide breakthrough capacity for this polymer is 0.861 μmol/g. The adsorption column has been constructed using the imprinted polymer with a crosslink ratio 60%. The column extraction and preconcentration procedure for the trace Eu content determination in the strontium iodide recycled material by inductively coupled plasma–atomic emission spectrometry at a level of 1 × 10(–6)%((mass)) has been proposed.