An ion-imprinted polymer supported by attapulgite with a chitosan incorporated sol–gel process for selective separation of Ce(III)

The surface ion-imprinting concept and chitosan incorporated sol–gel process were applied to the synthesis of a new attapulgite-supported polymer for selective separation of Ce(III) from aqueous solution. The imprinting mechanism of prepared ion-imprinted polymer were discussed with the Characteristics of FT-IR and SEM. Results from the experiments of adsorption capacity and selectivity suggested that ion-imprinted polymer offered a fast kinetics for the adsorption of Ce(III) under the optimum conditions. Its maximum adsorption capacity was 38.02 mg/g, and the selective recognition towards Ce(III) was much higher than that of the non-imprinted polymer and attapulgite. The prepared functional polymer was shown to be promising for selective separation and enrichment of trace Ce(III) in environmental samples.