Adsorption of metal ions by carboxymethylchitin and carboxymethylchitosan hydrogels

Radiation cross-linking of CM-chitin and CM-chitosan has been investigated. Such parameters of radiation cross-linking as gelation doses, cross-linking and degradation radiation yields and ratios of scission to cross-linking has been determined for both polymers. The absorption ability of various metal ions into EB-radiation cross-linked carboxymethylchitin and carboxymethylchitosan has been investigated. The highest adsorption of scandium and gold has been obtained for carboxymethylchitin (CMCht) and carboxymethylchitosan (CMChts), respectively. Kinetic studies showed that adsorption of most of the metal ions occur in a relatively short period of time (2 h). Detail investigation of adsorption of gold ions has been carried out for both hydrogels. The maximum uptake of Au cations, based on Langmuir equation was determined to be 37.59 for CM-chitosan and 11.86 for CM-chitin. Both hydrogels indicate favorable adsorption of gold cations