Preparation and characterization of chitosan-grafted-poly(2-amino-4,5-pentamethylene-thiophene-3-carboxylic acid N′-acryloyl-hydrazide) chelating resin for removal of Cu(II), Co(II) and Ni(II) metal ions from aqueous solutions

The graft copolymerization of ethylacrylate (EA) onto chitosan initiated by potassium persulphate and Mohr's combined redox initiator system in limited aqueous medium was carried out in heterogeneous media. Moreover, modification of the grafted chitosan was carried out by reaction of the ester group (-COOEt) with 2-amino-4,5-pentamethylene-thiophene-3-carboxylic acid hydrazide which eventually produce chitosan-grafted-poly(2-amino-4,5-pentamethylene-thiophene-3-carboxylic acid N′-acryloyl-hydrazide) (chitosan-g-ATAH) chelating resin. The application of the modified resin for metal ion uptake was studied using Cu2+, Co2+ and Ni2+. The modified chelating resins were characterized using FTIR spectroscopy, SEM and X-ray diffraction.