Synthesis and characterization of CuO-loaded macroreticular anion exchange hybrid polymer

The aim of this work was the study on the synthesis of hybrid polymers containing cupric hydroxide and oxide using as the supporting material macroreticular strong base anion exchanger. The first step of inorganic deposit introduction within the polymer matrix was precipitation of Cu(OH)2 under different conditions (Cu(II) salt, temperature, duration). This stable product containing even 60 mg Cu(II) g− 1 was obtained by contacting anion exchanger in the OH− form with CuSO4 solution. In the second step Cu(OH)2 deposited in the polymer structure was converted into CuO under different conditions of which treatment with alkaline solution at a temperature of 50 °C occurred with the highest efficiency. Hybrid polymers with CuO deposit after two-steps synthesis contained 54 mg Cu(II) g− 1. Simultaneously, by repeating the synthesis cycle twice it was possible to increase Cu(II) load to 119 mg g− 1. The presence of cupric oxide was confirmed by XRD diffraction and FTIR analyses. SEM analyses showed that deposition of inorganic load occurred within the polymer matrix but in the outer parts of anion exchanger beads. Simultaneously, both obtained products containing Cu(OH)2 and CuO had almost the same porous characteristics in comparison to host polymer (determined BET surface area reached values: 20.71, 21.04, 18.90 m2 g− 1 respectively).