Abstract

The synthesis of poly(N,N?-dimethylacrylamide-co-acrylic acid) under different feed molar ratios was carried out by radical polymerization. Both homopolymers were also synthesized to compare the metal ion binding abilities. All polymers were water-soluble and were characterized by FTIR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, and TGA. The metal complexing properties for the metals Cu(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cd(II), Zn(II), Pb(II), Hg(II), Cr(III), and Fe(III) in the aqueous phase were investigated using the liquid-phase polymer-based retention (LPR) method. The metal ion interactions with the hydrophilic polymer were determined as a function of pH and the filtration factor. According to the interaction pattern obtained, the metal ions form the most stable complexes with the copolymer poly(N,N?-dimethylacrylamide-co-acrylic acid) within the pH range 5-7. Hg(II) was not retained at all the pH ranges investigated. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.