Synthesis of a magnetic composite resin and its cobalt removal characteristics in aqueous solution

A series of stepwise procedures to prepare a new organic-inorganic composite magnetic resin with phenolsulphonic-formaldehyde and freshly formed iron ferrite was established, based upon wet-and-neutralization method for synthesizing iron ferrite and pearl-polymerization method for synthesizing rigid bead-type composite resin. The ion exchange and sorption characteristics of the composite resin prepared by the above method at various conditions were experimentally disclosed. The composite resin prepared shows stably high removal efficiency to Co(II) species in aqueous solution in a wide range of solution pH. The overall isotherm is qualitatively explained by the generalized adsorption isotherm concept proposed by McKinley. The standard enthalpy change derived from van't Hoff equation conforms to the typical range for chemisorption or ion exchange, The selectivity of the PSF-F (phenolsulphonic formaldehyde-iron ferrite) composite resin to Co(II) species and other competing chemicals (i.e. Na(2)EDTA, Ca(II) and Na) was compared. It is anticipated that the composite resin can also be used for column-operation with process-control by applying external magnetic field, since the rigid bead-type composite resin shows magnetic-susceptibility due to its paramagnetic inorganic constituent (i.e. iron ferrite).