Synthesis of a novel quaternized form of melamine-formaldehyde resin for the removal of nitrate from water

In this work, quaternization of melamine formaldehyde resin (MFQ) as a novel sorbent was synthesized for the removal of nitrate ions from water through adsorption process. MFQ resin was characterized by FTIR, XRD and SEM with EDAX analysis. Sorption experiments were carried out in batch mode to optimize various parameters viz., contact time, initial nitrate ion concentration, pH, co-ions and temperature. Adsorption equilibrium and kinetic studies were investigated. Equilibrium and kinetic data agreed well with the Freundlich isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic models. Thermodynamic studies revealed that the nature of sorption is spontaneous and exothermic. The MFQ resin removed nitrate ions by means of electrostatic and ion exchange mechanism and the resin was effectively regenerated using 0.025 M NaCl. Sorption capacity of MFQ resin was compared with other sorbents suggested that this sorbent was quite useful for removing nitrate ions from aqueous solution.