Adsorption of silver(I) on synthetic chelating polymer derived from 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole-5-thiol and glutaraldehyde

New types of polymer condensation adducts were synthesized through the reaction of 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole-5-thiol (AZ) with glutaraldehyde in the absence and in the presence of thiourea at different molar ratios. The adsorption behavior of the chelating polymers towards Ag(I) from aqueous solutions was studied. Better adsorption behavior was achieved for Ag(I) by thiourea polymeric adducts. The chelating matrix obtained from a molar ratio of 2:1:3 of AZ, thiourea and glutaraldehyde, respectively, showed uptake capacity of 3.6 mmol/g. These polymers were evaluated for their recovery of Ag(I) from aqueous solutions using batch methods. The obtained polymers achieved promising results in the selective separation of Ag(I) from other metal ions. Both kinetics and thermodynamic parameters of the adsorption process were obtained. The data indicated that the adsorption process is an endothermic reaction and kinetically proceeds according to pseudo-first-order model. These parameters indicated that the polymers can be applied in the recovery of Ag(I).