Abstract
Previously, we investigated bead-type silica gel adsorbents bearing immobilized diglycolamic acid ligands for the recovery of rare earth elements (REEs). Although the ligand-bearing silica gel selectively adsorbs REEs, the ligand loading is limited by the specific surface area of the silica gel. To increase the ligand loading, we have prepared a film-type adsorbent by immobilizing diglycolamic acid ligands on a nonwoven poly(vinyl alcohol) fabric by means of grafting polymerization. Compared with the silica gel adsorbent, the film-type adsorbent showed similar selectivity for a heavy REE, but the adsorption capacity of the film-type adsorbent was 3–4 times that of the silica gel adsorbent because the ligand loading on the former was 3.81 times that on the latter.
