Removal of barium (II), cobalt (II), and strontium (II) from aqueous solution using chemically modified poly (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) pellets

The adsorption behavior of Ba2+, Co2+, and Sr2+ ions from aqueous solutions by sulfonated poly (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) (ABS-SO3H) was investigated. The structure of (ABS-SO3H) was confirmed using available spectroscopic tools such as Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and FT-IR together with DSC and TGA analyses in addition to EDX spectra. Various parameters including contact time, pH, adsorbent weight, and the initial metal concentration that affect the adsorption process, were investigated. The results indicated that the removal of Ba2+, Sr2+, and Co2+ increased with the increasing pH of a solution until pH =7 at a contact time of 1 h. The maximum adsorption capacity was calculated, and it was found to be 157.3, 107.5, 177 mg/g for Ba2+, Co-2+,Co- and Sr2+ ions, respectively. The kinetic study indicated that the adsorption process of Ba2+, Sr-2+,Sr- and Co2+ using ABS-SO3H could be fitted to the pseudo second-order kinetic model (R-2 =0.998). The Freundlich isotherm could be used to interpret the adsorption mechanism of Ba2+, Sr2+, and Co2+ by (ABS-SO3H). The separation feasibility of Ba2+, Sr2+, and Co2+ from a simulated aqueous solution was also discussed.