Yttrium is a remarkable rare-earth element with multidiscipline
applications, and it can be released into an aquatic system for its
widespread industrial applications. The present work is devoted to
evaluate the kinetics and isotherm models for adsorption of Y(III)
ions by the action of a novel metal–organic framework (MOF)
chemically bonded polymer with incorporated ion exchange and chelating
characters. To assemble these MOFs, a number of synthetic procedures
were designed and performed using microwave irradiation heating in
only 12 min. (i) The selected MOFs were synthesized by the reaction
of zinc acetate and glutaric to produce (ZnGA) in 3 min. (ii) Covalent
bonding and coating of (ZnGA) with 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane were
carried out to produce (ZnGA–Si–NH2) in 3
min. (iii) The polymeric compound was synthesized by coupling of p-chlorocresol with piperazine via formaldehyde to yield
PC in 4 min. (iv) The final MOFs–polymer nanocomposite was
synthesized by the functionalization of ZnGA–Si–NH2 with PC to assemble ZnGA–Si–NH–PC in
2 min. The impact of the polymer on stability of ZnGA–Si–NH–PC
in aqueous solutions (pH 1–7) was confirmed and compared to
the MOFs separately. Additionally, thermal stability and surface morphology
of ZnGA–Si–NH–PC were also studied and evaluated.
The metal sorption capacity values of Y(III) ions onto ZnGA–Si–NH–PC
were optimized at pH 7 and established as 1175, 1925, and 4800 μmol
g–1 using 0.025, 0.05, and 0.1 mol L–1 of Y(III), respectively. The interaction mechanisms for binding
of Y(III) ions with ZnGA–Si–NH–PC were studied
and evaluated by seven kinetics models and seven adsorption isotherm
models, and the collected results confirmed that the adsorption process
is well fitted with the pseudo-second-order and pore diffusion models.
The collected data assured that the adsorption of Y(III) ions onto
the ZnGA–Si–NH–PC nanocomposite is chemisorption
(ΔH° = 42.44 kJ/mol) with the direct ion
exchange mechanism of Y(III) ions with the surface hydrogen ions and
coordinate bond formation mechanism with the nitrogen functional groups
into the available pores of the ZnGA–Si–NH–PC
nanocomposite.