Separation of Lead and Copper Ions in Acidic Media Using an Ion-Exchange Resin with a Thiourea Functional Group

This research studied the selective separation of lead and copper ions in acidic solutions using Puromet MTS 9140 resin with a thiourea functional group. The effects of operation parameters, that is, resin dosage, solution pH, ion exchange time, metal concentration, and temperature, on metal ion exchange were investigated using batch-test protocols. Ion-exchange experimental data were analyzed with Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin models. The results demonstrate that the MTS 9140 resin has ion-exchange selectivity for copper ions over lead ions. The ion-exchange recovery of Cu exceeded 95%, while Pb coloading was under 19% with MTS 9140 resin dosage of 0.070 g/mL in the pH range of 2.5 to 4.5. The kinetic studies showed that the ion exchange process could be better described by the pseudo-second-order model for lead and copper ions. The temperature dependence indicates the endothermic nature of the ion-exchange process. The resin also showed potential application as an effective adsorbent for removing heavy metal ions in water or wastewater treatment.