Readily Prepared Polystyrene-Bound Pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylate and Its Application for Removal of Mercury Ions

Commercially available chloromethylated polystyrene (cross-linked with 2% divinylbenzene) was used to prepare novel and stable polymer supported pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylate. This polymer was found to accelerate the selective removal of Hg(II) from aqueous solutions containing different amounts of Hg(II) (10-100 ppm). Adsorption rate was high at the beginning and then equilibrium was reached in about 25 min. Maximum Hg(II) adsorption capacity of the resin was about 41.5 mg/g of the dry polymer. The Hg(II) adsorption ability increased with the increase in pH, in the range where the solubility of the Hg(II) was not affected by pH. More than 95% of the adsorbed Hg(II) was desorbed in 15 min by using 0.1 M HNO3 as an elution agent. The regeneration of this resin by strong acid was feasible and desorption ratio was very high (up to 96%).