Ion imprinted cryogel-based supermacroporous traps for selective separation of cerium(III) in real samples

Abstract

This study demonstrates the preparation and characterization of a novel ion imprinted cryogel which exhibits high affinity and selectivity towards Ce(III) ions in aqueous solutions and bastnasite ore samples. 2-Hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and N-methacryloylamido antipyrine (MAAP) were used as functional monomers for the preparation of Ce(III) imprinted cryogel. The effects of various factors such as initial Ce(III) concentration, flow rate, pH, interaction time and ionic strength on the Ce(III) binding to the prepared ion imprinted cryogels were also studied. The binding equilibrium for Ce(III) is obtained in 30 min at the flow rate of 0.5 mL/min. The maximum binding capacity of the prepared ion imprinted cryogel towards Ce(III) is obtained as 36.58 mg/g at optimum conditions. The selectivity of the prepared ion imprinted cryogel towards Ce(III) in the presence of other possible interfering lanthanide ions such as La(III) and Nd(III) were also performed. The obtained results showed that the prepared ion imprinted cryogel exhibits high selectivity and sensitivity towards Ce(III) ions. The limit of detection (LOD) was found as 50 mu g/L.