Enrichment and separation of silver from waste solutions by metal ion imprinted membrane

Using blends of chitosan and polyvinyl alcohol as film-forming materials, the metal ion imprinted membrane was prepared with silver ions as template (Ag(I)-IIM). The DSC curve shows that the membrane does not exhibit the heat resistance very well but the favorable compatibility. FT-IR analysis implies that the coordinating atoms may be N atom of –NH2 in chitosan and O atom of –OH in polyvinyl alcohol. The results on the experiment of competitive adsorption indicate that Ag(I)-IIM has the ability of specificity and recognition to Ag(I). The large adsorption capacity for Ag(I) indicates that Ag(I)-IIM can be used in silver enrichment and separation from waste solutions as an effective material.