Selective removal of Cd(II) ion using synthesised Poly(o-anisidine)–Sn(IV)silicophosphate nanocomposite

ABSTRACT

A nanocomposite cation exchanger, poly(o-anisidine)–Sn(IV)silicophosphate, was synthesised using the sol-gel method by the incorporation of Sn(IV)silicophosphate into the poly(o-anisidine) matrix. The physicochemical properties were investigated using FTIR, simultaneous TGA-DTA, SEM and TEM. Characterisation of the polymer-based nanocomposite has shown granulometric nature of the composite with uniform surface morphology and appreciable thermal and chemical stability. The ion-exchange capacity (Na⁺ ion) of the cation exchanger synthesised at an optimum pH of 0.75 was found to be 1.92 meq g⁻¹. The nanocomposite can withstand temperature as high as 400 ${ }^{\circ }C$ with retention of 81.8% of its initial ion-exchange capacity and a mere weight loss of 11.2%. Metal sorption study carried out in different solvent shows the selectivity of the nanocomposite for Cd²⁺ and Th⁴⁺ in all solvent media. Analytically important quantitative binary separations of metal ions were achieved using the synthesised cation exchanger with recovery almost 99.0%. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) for Cd²⁺ were found to be 1.60 µg L⁻¹ and 5.33 µg L⁻¹ respectively. Selective removal of hazardous Cd²⁺ from the industrial effluent reflects the potential utility of the synthesised nanocomposite in environmental pollution control and wastewater treatment.

KEYWORDS:

• Nanocomposite
• pollution
• cadmium
• poly(o-anisidine)–Sn(IV)silicophosphate
• wastewater

Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to the Chairman, Department of Chemistry, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh (India) and Principal, S. S, College, Hailakandi, Assam (India) for providing necessary research facilities.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).