Amine-modified maleic anhydride containing terpolymers for the adsorption of uranyl ion in aqueous solutions

Maleic anhydride-styrene-methyl methacrylate (MA-S-MM) terpolymer was prepared. It was modified by ethylenediamine (EDA) and diethylenetriamine (DETA) in order to get cross-linked polymers bearing carboxyl and amine groups. Modified polymers used as an adsorbent for the removal of UO22+ from water. The characterizations of structures of all the polymers were performed by Fourier transform infrared. The adsorptive features of adsorbents were then investigated for UO22+ in view of dependency on ion concentration, pH, temperature and kinetics. Experimentally obtained isotherms were evaluated with reference to Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich models. The maximum monolayer adsorption capacity for UO22+ was found to be 1.59 and 2.43 mol kg-1 for EDA-MA-S-MM and DETA-MA-S-MM, respectively. It can be said that the new modified polymers prepared in our laboratory have been suggested as new adsorbents for uranyl ions. (author)