Specific mercury(II) adsorption by thymine-based sorbent.
A new kind of polymer sorbent based on the specific interaction of Hg(II) with nucleic acid base, thymine, is described for the selective adsorption of Hg(II) from aqueous solution. Two types of sorbents immobilized with thymine were prepared by one-step swelling and polymerization and graft polymerization, respectively. The maximum static adsorption capacity of the new polymer sorbents for Hg(II) is proportional to the density of thymine on their surface, up to 200mg/g. Moreover, the new kind polymer sorbent shows excellent selectivity for Hg(II) over other interfering ions, such as Cu(II), Cd(II), Zn(II), Co(II), Ca(II) and Mg(II), exhibits very fast kinetics for Hg(II) adsorption from aqueous solution, and can be easily regenerated by 1.0M HCl. It also has been successfully used for the selective adsorption of spiked Hg(II) from real tap water samples. This new thymine polymer sorbent holds a great promise in laboratory and industrial applications such as separation, on-line enrichment, solid-phase extraction, and removal of Hg(II) from pharmaceutical, food and environmental samples.
Liu
Xiangjun
X
Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
Qi
Cui
C
Bing
Tao
T
Cheng
Xiaohong
X
Shangguan
Dihua
D
D000327:Adsorption; D008628:Mercury / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D013941:Thymine / Q000737:chemistry*; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods; D014881:Water Supply
D011108:Polymers; D014873:Water Pollutants; D008628:Mercury; D013941:Thymine