Removal of heavy metals from aqueous media by cation exchange nonwoven PET coated with β-cyclodextrin-polycarboxylic moieties

The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the capacity of new cationic exchange textiles (CET) to uptake four heavy metals (Pb2+, Cd2+, Zn2+, Ni2+) from water. The CETs are nonwoven PET coated with a copolymer (polyester) of β-cyclodextrin and different polycarboxylic acids: citric acid (CTR), 1,2,3,4-butanetetracarboxylic acid (BTCA), polyacrylic acid (PAA Mw = 2000 g/mol). The efficiencies of these three CETs (either on carboxylic or carboxylate forms) and the uncoated (βCD-citric acid) copolymer were established with respect to different experimental conditions (time, pH, metal mixture). Finally, two CETs (those coated with CTR or BTCA) gave the best results for depollution applications in terms of the metal adsorption/cost ratio.