Chelating Aurum With Pp Film Containing Pa6 Chains

A novel approach to chelating aurum (Au) by modified polypropylene ( PP) was developed. Photoinduced grafting polymerization of acrylic acid (AA) on PP was carried out first, followed by anionic ring-opening polymerization of caprolactam on the above modified film to introduce PA6 chains onto the PP films. By this method, functional groups containing N and O were introduced on PP films. Because these functional groups and chloroauric acid formed the ion-association complex in acid solution, the prepared PP film was used to chelate An. The obtained films after each treatment step were characterized with attenuated total reflectance (ATR) IR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques. After chelating Au, the concentration of Au in the solution decreased from 1 mg/mL to 2.58 mu g/mL. The results showed that the films prepared possessed good effect on chelating An. This study suggested a new approach of chelating An by modified PP which may have potential applications in reclaiming noble metals from smelt waste water.