Chromium (VI) removal from aqueous solutions using a polyethylenimine - epichlorohydrin resin

The ability of a synthesized polyethylenimine - epichlorohydrin resin to remove Cr(VI) from aqueous solutions was investigated in absence (initial pH 2 to 7) and presence of background electrolytes (NaNO3 and Na2SO4 solutions of initial pH 3 and 6). The determined Cr-uptake was significantly higher than the one reported for the majority of other sorbents. The photo-metrically determined uptake data were modeled by the Langmuir, Redlich-Peterson, Langmuir-Freundlich, and Toth equations. The modeling results did not point out any preference to one specific model in terms of the goodness-of-fit and the prediction of maximum sorption capacity. The Cr-sorption kinetics was investigated at 15, 25, 35 and 45 oC using 51Cr-labeled solutions and γ-ray spectroscopy. The Cr-sorption was very fast at all studied temperatures and well reproduced by the pseudo-second order kinetics equation. Rate constant and activation energy values were calculated using the experimental data. The Cr-loaded resin was also examined by XRD, XPS, XAFS and SEM/EDS. The XPS and XAFS investigations indicated a partial reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III). The environmental compatibility of the Cr-loaded resin was examined using the EPA-TCLP method. The Cr-binding by the resin was very stable and regeneration attempts by HCl solutions of pH 3 were rather unsuccessful