Abstract

The binding capability of crosslinked poly(acrylic acid-co-2-acrylamide-2-methyl-1-propane sulfonic acid) for silver(I) ions by the batch equilibrium method is investigated. The effects of the pH, temperature, time of contact, and resin–metal ion molar ratio on the retention ability are studied. The retention for silver(I) increases from 21.7% at pH 1 to 94.6% at pH 5. The adsorption capacity at pH 5 is 1.18 meq/g dry resin. The maximum load capacity at the optimum pH is determined. In order to recover the resin, elution runs in acid and basic media are carried out. The best eluent is 4M HNO3 (84.9%). Moreover, retention–elution cycles are performed.