Use of pH-sensitive polymer hydrogels in lead removal from aqueous solution.

Three gamma crosslinked polymeric hydrogels were synthesized and evaluated as lead ion sorbents. A crosslinked poly(acrylic acid) hydrogel was compared with two 4-vinylpiridine-grafted poly(acrylic acid) hydrogels (26.74 and 48.1% 4-vinylpiridine). The retention properties for Pb(II) from aqueous solutions of these three polymers were investigated by batch equilibrium procedure. The effects of pH, contact time and Pb(II) concentration were evaluated. The optimal pH range for all polymers was 4-6. The lightly grafted polymer (PAAc-g-4VP at 26.74%) exhibited a Pb(II) removal close to 80% at 5h and above 90% at 24h. The maximum Pb(II) removal was 117.9mg g(-1) of polymer and followed the Freundlich adsorption model. XPS characterization indicates that the carboxyl groups are involved in the Pb(II) removal.

Determination of lead and cadmium using a polycyclodextrin-modified carbon paste electrode with anodic stripping voltammetry.

This work reports the use of alpha and beta-cyclodextrin-modified carbon paste electrodes (CPE(alpha-CD) and CPE(beta-CD)) to determine simultaneously Pb(II) and Cd(II) by means of the electrochemical technique known as anodic stripping voltammetry (ASV). Both modified electrodes displayed good resolution of the oxidation peaks of the said metals. Statistic analysis of the results strongly suggests that the CPE(beta-CD )exhibited a better analytical response that the CPE(alpha-CD), while the detection limits obtained for Pb(II) were 6.3 x 10(-7) M for the CPE(alpha-CD) and 7.14 x 10(-7) M for the CPE(beta-CD), whereas for Cd(II) they were 2.51 x 10(-6) M for the CPE(alpha-CD) and 2.03 x 10(-6) M for the CPE(beta-CD).