Crosslinked-Chelating Porous Sheet with High Dynamic Binding Capacity of Metal Ions

A crosslinked chelating porous sheet was prepared by cografting ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) with glycidyl methacrylate onto an electron-beam-irradiated porous polyethylene sheet, followed by the introduction of an iminodiacetate group. At a molar percentage of EGDMA of 1.0 mol%, the sheet exhibited a maximum dynamic binding capacity for copper ions of 0.93 mmol/g, while the equilibrium binding capacity remained the same (1.2 mmol/g) as that of a non-crosslinked chelating porous sheet. The crosslinking of the grafted chain causes copper ions to lower their diffusion rate along the sheet thickness driven by the gradient of the amount of copper ions adsorbed.