Since chitin and chitosan are structurally similar to cellulose 1,2 and are quite abundant in nature, it is very important to conduct studies on their effective applications. Although they have so far been discarded as a raw waste material, they are currently attracting much attention as a utilized resource. Recently, we newly synthesized some crosslinked chitosan derivatives available as chelating resins using chitosan. 3,4 We found that new chitosan derivatives (N-(2-pyridylmethyl)chitosan(PMC), N-(2-thienylmethyl)chitosan (TMC),propyl]chitosan(MTPC)) can selectively adsorb precious metals, such as gold(III), palladium(II), and platinum(IV) in hydrochloric acid. 3 We also found that Schiff's base formation is effective in protecting the amino group prior to the crosslinking reaction.Mercury(II) is one of the typical environmental pollutants and is, on the other hand, a useful metal indispensable for industries.5 Therefore, it is very important to develop techniques to recovery mercury(II) from various kinds of wastes, such as spent dry cells and waste water containing mercury(II). The separation techniques using chelating resin are considered to be the most effective and energy-saving separation techniques. Hence, the development of the selective adsorbent for the recovery of mercury(II) using chitosan was planned from the view points of both environmental protection and the utilization of biomass.In the present study the adsorption behaviors of mercury(II) on PMC, TMC, and MTPC from hydrochloric acid were investigated in order to develop a new adsorbent of mercury(II). Furthermore, we also examined the adsorption behavior of mercury(II) on crosslinked copper(II)-complexed chitosan (CLC) reported in a previous paper 6 for a comparison. We have discussed the relationship between the structure of the ligand in chitosan derivatives and the selectivity toward mercury(II).
Experimental
Reagents and adsorption proceduresChitosan (trade name, Chitosan 100L), produced and marketed by Katokichi Co. Inc. Japan, was used without further purification; the deacetylated degree was 100%. Other reagents of reagent grade were also used without further purification. All aqueous solutions were prepared with distilled and deionized water. PMC, TMC, and MTPC were synthesized by reducing the Schiff's bases between the primary amino groups of chitosan and the corresponding carboxaldehydes, as described in the previous paper. 4 The intermediate and final products were identified by the IR spectra. The substituted degree was determined to be over 0.9 by using the C/N ratio of an elemental analysis.About 0.1 g of sieved chitosan derivatives and 15 ml of an aqueous solution containing metal ion were shaken in a stoppered 50 ml glass flask immersed in a thermostated water bath maintained at 30˚C to achieve equilibration. The initial metal concentration was adjusted to 1 mmol dm -3 by dissolving metal chloride in 0.01 -6 mol dm -3 hydrochloric acid. The initial and 687 ANALYTICAL SCIENCES AUGUST 1998, VOL. 14 1998 © The Japan Society for ...