Adsorption of mercury(II) from hydrochloric acid solutions on glycidylmethacrylate-divinylbenzene microspheres containing amino groups

Five new adsorbents for Hg(II) containing nitrogen donor groups were prepared by polyaminating glycidylmethacrylate-divinylbenzene microspheres using ethylenediamine or polyethyleneimines with molecular masses 423, 600, 1800, or 10,000 Da. Adsorption experiments with Hg(II) from hydrochloric acid solutions showed that the ethylenediamine microspheres exhibited higher adsorption capacity for Hg(II) than the other four polyaminated microspheres studied. The ethylenediamine based microspheres showed high selectivity for Hg(II) and possibility for its preconcentration in the presence of base metal ions such as Fe(III), Co(II), Cu(II) and Cd(II). These microspheres were also found to be reusable when 1.0 M nitric acid was utilized as the eluting agent.