Syntheses of amine-type adsorbents with emulsion graft polymerization of glycidyl methacrylate

Glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) which was precursor monomer for the synthesis of metal ion adsorbent was emulsified by surfactant of Tween 20 (Tw-20). The emulsion of 5% GMA in the water was stable for 48 h at Tw-20 concentration of 0.5%. Graft polymerization of GMA on polyethylene fiber was carried out in the emulsion state at various pre-irradiation doses. Degree of grafting (Dg) reached 103%, 301% and 348% for 1 h grafting at 40 °C with pre-irradiation of 10, 30 and 40 kGy, respectively. But the Dg was depressed when the pre-irradiation dose was over 50 kGy since cross-linking occurred simultaneously in the trunk polymer. Dg decreased with increment of Tw-20 concentration in emulsion of 5% GMA at pre-irradiation of 40 kGy. The three kinds of amine-type adsorbents were synthesized by reacting diethylenetriamine (DETA), triethylenetetramine (TETA) and ethylenediamine (EDA) with GMA-grafted polyethylene fiber. The synthesized EDA-type adsorbent had the highest selectivity against U ion and the distribution coefficient was 2.0 × 106.