Toxeminar-1, Feb 22, 2009 Biology and Medicine, 1 (2): 127-133, 2009 127 eISSN: 09748369, www.biolmedonline.com Role of chemically modified organic resin in selective separation of Hg 2+ from other metal ions *AM Khan, S Khan, SA Ganai Department of Applied Chemistry, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh 202002 (UP), India. *Corresponding Author: amjad.mt.khan@gmail.com Abstract Amberlite IR-400 was chemically modified using titan yellow as a chelating agent. Adsorption studies such as effect of concentration, pH, time and temperature on the resin has been studied. Distribution coefficient studies of metal ions in varied solvent systems have been explored. On the basis of Kd values, important binary as well as ternary separations Viz. Mn 2+ -Hg 2+ ,Zn 2+ -Hg 2+ ,Mg 2+ -Bi 3+ ,Cu 2+ -Hg 2+ ,Pb 2+ -Sn 4+ ,Pb 2+ -Bi 3+ & Cd 2+ -Hg 2+ ,Ca 2+ -Hg 2+ -Zr 4+ ,Cd 2+ -Hg 2+ -Co 2+ ,Ni 2+ - Hg 2+ -Co 2+ ,Pb 2+ -Hg 2+ -Co 2+ and Ce 3+ -Hg 2+ -Co 2+ has been achieved on columns of titan yellow modified Amberlite IR-400 resin. In order to check the selectivity and reproducibility of the method, different amounts of Hg 2+ has been loaded in synthetic mixtures containing (Mg 2+ =2.43mg),(Ca 2+ =4.01mg),(Ba 2+ =13.74 mg), (Sr 2+ =8.76 mg), ( Pb 2+ = 20.72 mg),(Zn 2+ = 16.54 mg),(Cd 2+ =11.24 mg). This material can be utilized for the removal and isolation of Hg 2+ from waste water produced from industrial units. Keywords: Adsorption, anion exchange resin, separation, toxic metal ions. Introduction Ion exchange method during the last decade has become increasingly important in various analyses in inorganic and organic chemistry. Nowadays, attention has been paid for the removal of heavy metals from industrial effluents and wastewater. The problem of ecosystem is increasing with developing technology. Heavy metal pollution is one of the main problems. Toxic metal compounds not only reach the surface water but also contaminate underground water in trace amounts by leaching from soil after rain and snow. Heavy metals such as cobalt, nickel, lead, mercury etc are detected in waste streams from mining operations, tanneries, electroplating, battery and petrochemical industries. It has a harmful effect on human physiology and other biological systems when they exceed the tolerance levels. They are non biodegradable and accumulate in living organisms causing various types of ailments and disorders. The focus is mainly to solve increasing environmental problems due to excessive and indiscriminate industrialization. A large number of methods for the analysis of various technical products and substances of biological and medicinal interest have been evolved. Determination of a particular metal ion in complex matrices like ores, minerals, biochemical samples, tissue, blood serum etc, is difficult as other components of the mixture often interfere. Thus it is important to develop a separation method which is sensitive as well as selective. Ion exchange resins with large surface area and macro porous structure have been successfully used for the preparation of chelating sorbents. The resin beads having different chelating agents sorbed on them show marked selectivity towards a particular metal ion. The potentiality of chelating ion exchange resins for the separation and preconcentration of metal ions have been established 1-6 . These materials which bear chelate forming groups and ion exchange groups are usually prepared by incorporation of complexing groups on to the ion exchange resin. The selectivity of these modified resins for metal ions depends on the nature of the functional groups of the complexing agents. Aromatic complexing agent 7 have shown great analytical competence and are particularly useful for metal ions on an anion exchange resin 8-13 . Griesbach and Lieser 14 described the synthesis of fifteen sorbents. Dowex 1-X-8 containing adsorbed sulfonated azo dyes 15 has been found to separate Cu 2+ and Ni 2+ . Azothiopyrine disulfonic acid 16 has been incorporated on to an anion exchange resin and the product has been used for the uptake of Hg 2+ , Cu 2+ , Cd 2+ from aqueous solution. The recovery of Hg 2+ from wastewater utilizing a chelating strong and weak base containing imidoacetic acid and thiol groups 17 is also reported.