Sol-gel synthesis, physico-chemical characterization and investigations on ion exchange performance of atypical conducting polymer integrated composite cation exchangers

ABSTRACT

Herein, an effective sol-gel strategy was utilized for the synthesis of atypical Polypyrrole/EDTA-Zirconium(IV) phosphate (PYZP) and Polypyrrole/EDTA-Zirconium(IV) iodate (PYZI) composite cation exchangers. The structural aspects, surface morphology, elemental composition and thermal constancy of the aforementioned composite cation exchangers were scrutinized through UV-Visible, FT-IR, XRD, SEM with EDAX, TEM and TGA studies. As-prepared conducting polymeric composite materials divulged not only excellent ion exchange capacity but also better thermal stability, electrical conductivity and notable selectivity toward Pb(II) ions as compared to their individual inorganic moieties. The improvement in ion exchange capacities (IEC) for distinct alkali metal ions of PYZP composite cation exchanger were Li⁺, 2.89; Na⁺, 3.15; K⁺, 3.34 meq/g and PYZI composite cation exchanger were Li⁺, 2.60; Na⁺, 2.86; K⁺, 3.21 meq/g, separately. It was concluded that PYZP composite acts as an excellent cation exchanger compared to PYZI composite due to the presence of ionogenic phosphate anions. The partition competency of the composite materials toward distinct metal ions in diverse solvent systems exposed the separation potentials of metal ions of systematic prominence from a specified binary combinations encompassing Cd(II) – Pb(II), Hg(II) – Pb(II), Cu(II) – Pb(II), Zn(II) – Pb(II), Ni(II) – Pb(II) and Fe(III) – Pb(II) metal ions. Subsequently, the conducting competency was examined through AC-Impedance spectroscopy.

KEYWORDS:

• Polypyrrole
• EDTA
• partition competency
• binary combinations
• separation potential

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge STIC, Cochin University, Cochi, Material Analysis & Research Centre, Bengaluru, Centre for Instrumentation and Maintenance Facility (CIMF), Periyar University, Salem and Department of Chemistry, Aditanar College of Arts and Science, Tiruchendur for providing all necessary research facilities for conducting this investigation.

Disclosure statement

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/01496395.2023.2240491