A novel Pb(Ⅱ) ion-imprinted composite membrane with microporous polypropylene membrane (MPPM) as support was successfully prepared by covalent surface modification and ion-imprinted technology.First
carboxyl groups (COOH) were introduced onto the MPPM surface by UV-induced grafting polymerization of acrylic acid (AA).Subsequently
chitosan (CTS) was immobilized onto the surface of MPPM based on the reaction of carboxyl groups with amino groups (NH2) of CTS.Finally
ion-imprinting was realized by coordination bond effects using Pb(Ⅱ) as template ions and epichlorohydrin (ECH) as crosslinking agents.The preparation process was verified by attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).The morphologies and elemental distribution of the surface and cross-section of membranes were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM)-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX).Static water contact angle and pure water flux measurements were also conducted.Results show that the imprinted composite membranes have satisfactory surface hydrophilicity and water flux.When the grafting rate of the Pb(Ⅱ) ion-imprinted polymer reaches 174.4 g/cm2
the water flux is (265958) L/(m2 h).The adsorption affinity and permeation selectivity of the imprinted composite membranes were evaluated by equilibrium binding experiment and competitive permeation experiment
respectively.The imprinted composite membranes show higher adsorption affinity
faster adsorption rate and better permeation selectivity towards Pb(Ⅱ) ions than the non-imprinted counterpart
and the permeation selectivity coefficients relative to Cu(Ⅱ) and Zn(Ⅱ) are 3.43 and 3.93