A Simple Scheme for Grafting an Ion‐Imprinted Layer onto the Surface of Poly(propylene) Fibers

A simple method for surface ion‐imprinting is described in which poly(glycidyl methacrylate) is grafted onto PP fibers to act as a binder to a Cu 2+ ion‐imprinted polymer layer. Mechanical and thermal analysis shows excellent tensile and thermal properties of the ion‐imprinted fibers. Competitive adsorption of Cu 2+ and other ions such as Zn 2+ , Ni 2+ , Cd 2+ , Mn 2+ , and Mg 2+ on the fibes is examined and a highly selective adsorption of Cu 2+ is observed. The selectivity coefficient for Cu 2+ with respect to Cd 2+ can be as high as 20.2. Dynamic adsorption results indicate that the fibers are able to thoroughly remove Cu 2+ from a solution. Regeneration performance tests show that the fibers maintain almost the same adsorption capacity for copper ions after 10 adsorption/desorption cycles.