Adsorption properties of styrenesulfonate-grafted fibrous metal adsorbent

Ueki, Yuji; Saiki, Seiichi; Seko, Noriaki

The dynamic adsorption/elution properties of an ethyl p-styrenesulfonate (EtSS)-based fibrous graft adsorbent having sulfonic acid (SOH) groups were evaluated by column-mode adsorption/elution tests for various cations. The EtSS-based fibrous graft adsorbent could work to capture various cations rapidly even under high flow rate conditions, compared with a commercial granular resin. The reason for this difference of adsorption rates was thought to be that the target ions were easily and rapidly transported near the SOH groups of graft chains by fluid convection. The affinity order of the fibrous graft adsorbent for cations depended on the cationic size and valence. It was found that the EtSS-based fibrous graft adsorbent preferentially adsorbed more multiply-charged cations having a larger cationic radius. The adsorbed cations could be easily eluted and concentrated by 1 M HNO aqueous solution, and the recovery of each cation was reached over 90%. Based on the above results, it was found that the EtSS-based fibrous graft adsorbent could be available as a sophisticated metal adsorbent in the industrial processes.