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Amine-Functionalized Porous Copolymeric Microspheres for Efficient Chromium(VI) Removal: Synthesis and
Małgorzata Maciejewska1, Grzegorz Wójcik2
1Department of Polymer Chemistry, Institute of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Chemistry, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, Gliniana 33, 20-614 Lublin, Poland.
Materials (Basel, Switzerland)
|May 27, 2026
Summary
Researchers developed porous amine-functionalized polymers for chromium(VI) removal. TMPTMA-crosslinked copolymers showed superior adsorption due to better pore accessibility, highlighting a key factor in designing effective sorbent materials.
Area of Science:
- Polymer Chemistry
- Environmental Science
- Materials Science
Background:
- Hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) poses significant environmental and health risks.
- Developing efficient and cost-effective sorbent materials for Cr(VI) remediation is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To synthesize and characterize porous glycidyl methacrylate-based copolymers functionalized with triethylenetetramine.
- To investigate the impact of monomer composition and crosslinker type on porosity and epoxy content.
- To evaluate the performance of these modified copolymers for Cr(VI) removal.
Main Methods:
- Suspension-emulsion polymerization to create porous copolymers.
- Functionalization with triethylenetetramine to introduce amine groups.
- Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and elemental analysis for characterization.
- Batch adsorption experiments to assess Cr(VI) removal efficiency and capacity.
Main Results:
- Increasing glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) content enhanced epoxy functionality but reduced specific surface area.
- Successful amine functionalization was confirmed, maintaining porosity.
- Adsorption of Cr(VI) was pH-dependent, with optimal removal at pH 3.
- TMPTMA-crosslinked copolymers demonstrated a higher maximum sorption capacity (165.47 mg/g) compared to EGDMA-based ones.
- Pore accessibility was identified as a more critical factor than amine group density for adsorption efficiency.
Conclusions:
- Porous amine-functionalized copolymers can be effectively synthesized for Cr(VI) removal.
- TMPTMA-based copolymers offer superior performance due to optimized pore structure and accessibility.
- This study provides valuable insights for designing advanced polymer sorbents for heavy metal remediation.
Keywords:
amine-modified adsorbentschromium(VI) removalepoxy-functional polymersporous polymer microspheres
