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Facile microfluidic synthesis of copolymer hydrogel beads for the removal of heavy metal ions

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Abstract

A novel and recyclable poly(polyethylene glycol diacrylate/maleamic acid) (p(PEGDA/MALA)) copolymer hydrogel beads were for the first time synthesized through a microfluidic method and used for the removal of heavy mental ions from water. The monodisperse and size-controlled pregel droplets were firstly prepared by a microfluidic device and then polymerized to the hydrogel beads under UV irradiation. The synthesized p(PEGDA/MALA) hydrogel beads were characterized using various techniques and showed good adsorption property for Pb2+. The influencing factors on the adsorption process of Pb2+ were investigated in detail. The experiment results indicated that Pb2+ adsorption process was pH dependent, and agreed with the Langmuir monolayer model and pseudo-second-order equation. The adsorbing mechanism of copolymer hydrogel beads for Pb2+ mainly resulted from the electrostatic interaction and chelation action. The competitive adsorption experiment indicated that the affinity order in multicomponent adsorption was Pb2+>Cu2+>Cd2+. The well-designed p(PEGDA/MALA) copolymer hydrogel beads had excellent adsorption capacity and high recyclability and showed a promising application prospect in the decontamination of heavy metal ions in water.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21575125 and 21475116), The Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institution, and University Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (13KJB150039). Also, the authors thank the Testing Center of Yangzhou University for the characterization data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225002, People’s Republic of China

    Juan Li, Jingjing Tong, Xinhui Li, Zhanjun Yang, Yongcai Zhang & Guowang Diao

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  1. Juan Li
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  2. Jingjing Tong
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  3. Xinhui Li
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  4. Zhanjun Yang
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  5. Yongcai Zhang
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Correspondence to Juan Li or Guowang Diao.

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Li, J., Tong, J., Li, X. et al. Facile microfluidic synthesis of copolymer hydrogel beads for the removal of heavy metal ions. J Mater Sci 51, 10375–10385 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-016-0258-0

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