Fabrication of A novel polyvinylpyrrolidone/abeitic acid hydrogel by gamma irradiation for the recovery of Zn, Co, Mn and Ni from aqueous acidic solution

As heavy metals are a group of pollutants that originate from industrial and nuclear facilities has become of major concern in the aquatic environment due to their toxicity to all living organisms. In this context; this study was aimed to prepare sustainable and efficient hydrogel for the removal of heavy metals such as Co, Ni, Zn and Mn from aqueous acidic solution. The polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)/abietic acid (AA) hydrogel were prepared by gamma irradiation at 50 kGy. The characterization of PVP/AA hydrogel were investigated by water absorbancy, gel content, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR). The characterizations indicate that bio-sorbent composite hydrogel networks provide advantageous over conventional preparation techniques. PVP/AA hydrogel was implanted for batch process with studying the effect different parameters on the sorption of the investigated metal ions such as radiation dose; pH, contact time, metal ions, V/m and temperature. The results illustrate that the highest uptake% was obtained at radiation dose 30 kGy at optimum pH = 3. The maximum adsorption capacity of PVP-AA adsorbent was reached 32, 32.5,19 and 32.5 mg.g − 1 for Zn(II), Co(III), Ni (III) and Mn(II) ions respectively. The changes in the values of free energy (ΔG) and enthalpy (ΔH) confirm the spontaneous nature of the adsorption reaction with an endothermic process. The maximum desorption of the investigated metal ions was achieved with 1 M HNO 3 of (97%, 98%, 70% and 60%) and takes the order: Co > Ni > Zn > Mn. The highest separation factor for Zn/Co = 26 and Zn/Ni = 8.6 at pH = 0.75.