Synthesis of polysulfone and nitrated polyeugenol based flat imprinted membrane for selective adsorption of gold

Abstract

Gold (Au) is the most valuable metal compared to the other metals contained in electronic waste and adsorption is a promising method for its recovery. In this research, a flat ionic imprinted membrane (IIM) was synthesized utilizing polysulfone and nitrated polyeugenol (NPE) for the adsorption of Au. Nitrated polyeugenol was synthesized by dissolving polyeugenol in chloroform and adding it into a mixture of HNO3 and H2SO4. The evidence of a successful nitration process was marked by the appearance of NO2 spectra in the wavenumber area of 1533 cm−1 and 1302 cm−1. The resulted NPE was then contacted with Au and analyzed by XRD. IIM synthesis was done by using polysulfone as its base, NPE-Au as its functional polymer, and polyethylene glycol (PEG) as its crosslinker. Au was then released from the membrane by immersing the membrane in thiourea solution. The membrane was characterized by SEM-EDX to examine the surface morphology. It was then used as a selective adsorbent towards Au and the adsorption results were analyzed by AAS. The results showed that the IIM is more selective towards Au compared to the non-imprinted membrane (NIM) in a selectivity test towards Cd and Cu but not in Fe.