Preparation of a Cu(II)‐Immobilized Co‐polymer(CIC) for Effective Removal of Urea

The study describes the preparation of Cu(II)‐immobilized copolymer(CIC) under optimum conditions for the effective removal of urea. The copolymeric hydrogels, synthesized by free‐radical aqueous copolymerization of monomers acrylamide and sodium acrylate, have been analyzed for their Cu(II) uptake behavior. The sorption of Cu(II) into polymer follows a Langmuir–type pattern and amount sorbed depends upon the composition of copolymeric gels, presence of other co‐ions in the solution, pH of the solution, initial concentration of sorbate, degree of crosslinking of the copolymeric hydrogel, temperature of the solution etc. In the preliminary study, the Cu(II) immobilized co‐polymer(CIC) sorbent demonstrated a fair tendency to remove urea from aqueous solutions.

Keywords:

• sorption
• Langmuir
• hydrogel
• urea
• hemodialysis

Acknowledgements

We are thankful to Dr. O. P. Sharma, Head of the Department of Chemistry for providing facilities. One of the authors (Abhishek Pathak) is thankful to UGC for providing financial assistance via major research project F. No. 32‐278/2006(SR).