Selective Ce(III) ion-imprinted polymer grafted on Fe3O4 nanoparticles supported by SBA-15 mesopores microreactor via surface-initiated RAFT polymerization

•Fe3O4 nanoparticles supported by SBA-15 mesopores microreactor was successfully synthesized and optimized.•Surface ion-imprinted polymer layer was controlled by RAFT agents.•Easy separation and recovery of superparamagnetic adsorbents from aqueous solution.•The absorbents showed high capacity and selectivity in presence of cerium ions.

Ce(III) ion-imprinted polymer (Ce(III)-IIP) grafted on Fe3O4 nanoparticles supported by SBA-15 mesopores microreactor was successfully synthesized via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization for selective removal of Ce(III) from aqueous solution. The characterization results suggest that the surface ion-imprinted polymer (IIP) synthesized by RAFT is a thin layer. Adsorption isotherm experiments indicated that Redlich-Peterson isotherm model best fitted the experimental data and the adsorption capacity of IIP was obviously higher than that of non-imprinted polymers (NIP) at the same conditions. The kinetics of adsorption followed the Thomas model. Moreover, competitive adsorption studies illustrated that Ce(III)-IIP offers the advantages of selectivity towards Ce(III) compared with NIP even in the presence of other metal ions. All above results indicated the potential application of Ce(III)-IIP for selective removal of Ce(III) from aqueous solution.

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