Abstract
In order to know how easily chelate reaction in fiber takes place the energy of activation in the reaction of wool with Hg was determined. The same process as in the case of chelate resin was used. The reaction in wool is not essentially the same as in resin, but the degree of chelateformation in wool may be expected to be proportional to the adsorption of heavy metallic ions, therefore the reaction velocity of the chelate reaction of wool with Hg was determined by the adsorption velocity of Hg with wool. The Arrhenius equation is known to be widely applicable not only to homogeneous reaction but also to heterogeneous process. The equation which can be used in the case of chelate resin is different from the one for homogeneous reaction. The reaction rate (the quantity of Hg adsorbed by wool in a state is divided by the quantity of Hg adsorbed at equilibrium) and the time t have the following relationship:
This equation may be finally transformed to:-
This requires the plot of logxagainst logtto be a straight line, as long as log K is constant. From the points in Fig. 1, the linear relationship between logxand logtis evident. These experiments were done at three different temperatures of 10°, 20° and 30°C.
From the inclination of these straight lines and from the differnce between log xt20, and log xt10 or between log xt30 and log xt20, the energy of activation is computed and it is found to be 6800 cal/mol. between 10° and 20°C and 9600 cal./mol. between 20 and 30°C.
