Water‐soluble polymers have attracted much interest due to their potential applications in environmental protection engineering to remove harmful pollutants and in biomedicine in the areas of tissue engineering, within‐body implants or other medical devices, artificial organ prostheses, ophthalmology, dentistry, bone repair, and so on. In this review, particular emphasis is given to the ability of water‐soluble polymers with amine, amide, carboxylic acid, hydroxyl and sulfonic acid functional groups to remove metal ions by means of the liquid‐phase polymer‐based retention (LPR) technique that combines the use of water‐soluble polymers and ultrafiltration membranes. The second part is dedicated to showing the potential application of functional water‐soluble polymers and their polymer–metal complexes as biocides for various bacteria. These polymers and polymer–metal complexes show an efficient bactericide activity, especially to Gram‐negative bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus reaching concentrations lower than 4 µg mL−1. This activity depends on polymer size, type of metal ion, contact time and concentration of polymer and metal ion. The discussion reveals that in the case of the LPR process the efficiency of metal ion removal depends strongly on the type of polymer functional group and the feed pH value. In general, two mechanisms of ion entrapment are suggested: complex formation and electrostatic interaction. In the case of the medical use of water‐soluble polymers and their complexes with metal ions, the review documents the unique bactericide properties of the investigated species. The polymer‐metal ion complexes show a reduced genotoxic activity compared with free metal ions. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry

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Poly(4-acryloylmorpholine), poly(4-acryloylmorpholine-co-2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propane sulfonic acid), and poly(2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propane sulfonic acid) were synthesized by radical polymerization. The water-soluble polymers obtained, containing tertiary amino, amide, and sulfonic acid groups, were investigated, in view of their metal binding properties, as polychelatogens by using the liquid-phase polymer-based retention technique, under different experimental conditions. The metal ions investigated were Ag(I), Cu(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cd(II), Pb(II), Zn(II), Cr(III), and Al(III).

Summary: Water-soluble polyelectrolytes containing carboxylic acid groups were investigated as polychelatogens, in view to study their metal ion binding properties, using the liquid-phase polymer-based retention technique under different experimental conditions. The divalent metal ions investigated were: Co 2þ , Cu 2þ , Zn 2þ , and Cd 2þ . When the pH increased above 3, and especially at pH 5, metal ion retention capability increased as the majority of the functional groups are carboxylate, which can form more stable complexes with the metal ions. The retention capability also depended on the structure of the polyelectrolyte and the filtration factor, Z.