2003 Volume 14 Issue 1 Pages 2-7
A lithium-selective surface imprinted polymer was prepared with two different β-diketones and a neutral phosphorus compound as the functional molecules. In the liquid-liquid extraction, it was confirmed that the β-diketones had complexation ability for lithium ion. However, the adsorption abilities of these surface-imprinted polymers containing each functional molecule were dependent on the alkyl-chain length of β-diketones. To elucidate the adsorption behavior of the imprinted polymers, the interfacial activity of β-diketones was evaluated by measuring the interfacial adsorption equilibrium constant. A high interfacial activity of β-diketone was found to be an important factor in ensuring high adsorption ability on the Li (I) -imprinted polymer. The surface-imprinted polymer prepared with β-diketone bearing a long alkyl-chain group exhibited high adsorption ability to lithium. Furthermore, the Li (I) -imprinted polymer did not adsorb sodium, potassium and cesium ions. Hence, this polymer can selectively separate lithium ion from multicomponent mixtures of alkaline metal ions.
