Microwave Synthesis of Copolymers Based on Itaconic Acid Moiety and Their Utility for Scavenging of Copper (II) and Lead (II)

Abstract

We report here the preparation of the two copolymers, itaconic acid-methyl methacrylate and itaconic acid-acrylamide, in different ratios using microwave irradiation in the presence of azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as initiator and 2-butanone as a solvent. All the prepared copolymers were characterized by different techniques; FT-IR, thermal analysis and elemental microanalysis. The thermal stability property of the prepared copolymers correlated with the changing of the itaconic acid ratio, as the ratio of itaconic acid increased, the crystallinity of the copolymer decreases. The itaconic acid-based copolymers also showed a good scavenging behavior in alkaline media for Cu (II) and Pb (II). The chelation behavior of both Cu (II) and Pb (II) complexes were checked using FT-IR, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential scanning calorimetery (DSC).

Keywords:

• Microwave synthesis
• itaconic acid
• copolymerization
• metal scavenging
• thermal stability

Funding

The authors extend their sincere appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Saud University for funding this work through research group project No. RGP-234 (Saudi Arabia).