Chemical and Process Engineering

Abstract

In this article, we present the results of the first application of 2-benzoylpyridine (2-BP) as a carrier in adsorptive polymeric materials dedicated for the removal of Ag(I) and Cu(II) ions from model acidic solutions. In the first stage of the research, the classical solvent extraction, in which 2-BP was used as an extractant, allowed to determine the proper conditions for conducting adsorptive processes. The stability constants of 2-BP complexes with analyzed metal ions were determined using the spectrophotometric method. The electrospray ionization (ESI) high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) method was applied for the confirmation of the ability of 2-BP molecules to form complexes with Cu 2+ metal ions in a solution and to determine the elemental composition of generated complexes (to identify the ratio of the number of metal ions to the number of molecules of 2-BP). The obtained results indicate that both the adsorptive processes and solvent extraction strongly depend on the properties of metal ions and that the use of 2-BP as a carrier/extractant allows for efficient removal of silver(I) ions and much less effective removal of copper(II) ions. The utilization of adsorptive polymeric materials is in line with the contemporary research trends that focus on eco-friendly and cost-effective methods.