Studies on radiation synthesis of PVA/EDTA hydrogels

Aqueous solutions of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) containing different amounts of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) were gamma irradiated from a Co-60 source to form PVA-EDTA hydrogels. The effect of irradiation dose and EDTA content on the specific viscosity (in feed), gel percentage and equilibrium degree of swelling (EDS) was investigated. The amount of EDTA in the hydrogel matrix was found to be considerably lower than in the feed composition. Inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) technique was used to determine the amount of Pb(II), Cd(II) and Hg(II) absorbed by the hydrogel. The incorporation of EDTA moieties onto PVA network results in a hydrogel which has absorption affinity for Pb(II) and Cd(II). The maximum chelating capacities of the hydrogel were observed to be 8.5 mg/g for Pb(II) and 4.2 mg/g for Cd(II). No affinity for absorption of Hg(II) by the hydrogel was observed. The thermal stabilities of the prepared hydrogels were characterized by TGA. The efficiency of EDTA in the hydrogel matrix for chelation was observed to be approximately 10% of that of pure EDTA in solution.