Synthesis and characterization of low-cost ion-exchange resins used for the removal of metal ions

Phenol- formaldehyde resin (pfr) is used bad-tempered protecting agent in blending of different percentage by weight of sulphonated abutilon indicum, linn.carbon (saic). we provide a synopsis of current developments in the use of ion exchange techniques in wastewater treatment. the prepared materials (pfr, composites, and saic) were characterized by ft-ir spectra, sem and thermal (tga) studies. the low cost ion exchangers (iers) are used for the removal of some selective metal ions such as na^+, k^+, ca^2+, cu^2+, mg^2+, zn^2+ and pb^2+. thermodynamic equilibrium constants (ln kc) are calculated for zn^2+- h^+ ion exchanges using the composite resins and also the thermodynamic parameters such as δh^o, δg^o&δs^o are evaluated from van’t hoff plot. the cation exchange capacity (cec) of the composites were found to decreased with the increasing the percentage of saic in pfr matrix. it was observed that the composites up to 20 % (w/w) blending of saic2 retain all the properties of original pfr. hence, the blended composites could be used as low cost ion exchangers when saic partially replaces the original pfr up to 20 % (w/w) saic2 blending without affecting the physico-chemical, thermal, spectral properties and cec values of pfr.