Boron removal using chelating resins with pyrocatechol functional groups

•A kind of chelating resin for boron removal with pyrocatechol was provided.•The boron loaded on the resins could be eluted with mild acid like 10% acetic acid.•The resin showed perfect pH adaptability, chemical stability and regeneration ability.

Owing to broad applications of boron products in many industries, boron waste pollutes the groundwater and leads to a chain of environment and health problems. In this research, a new kind of chelating resins with pyrocatechol functional group was developed, which could be used in various conditions for boron removal from aqueous solutions. Their boron uptake capacities, adsorption kinetics, ion-exchange isotherms, and regeneration ability were studied in the experiments. The equilibrium time of the resins for boron adsorption process was 12 h. According to Langmuir isotherm analysis, the maximum sorption capacity of resins was 4.54 mg/g at 25 °C. The loaded resins could be eluted by 10% AcOH and there was no decrease in boron removal capacity after three times of recycles.