Indo. J. Chem., 2011, 11 (2), 191 - 195 Desi Suci Handayani et al. 191 * Corresponding author. Email address : desi_sh2006@yahoo.co.id ADSORPTION OF Pb(II), Cd(II), AND Cr(III) FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTION BY POLY-5- ALLYL-CALIX[4]ARENE TETRA CARBOXYLIC ACID Desi Suci Handayani 1,2,* , Jumina 3 , Dwi Siswanta 3 , Mustofa 4 , Keisuke Ohto 5 , and Hidetaka Kawakita 5 1 Postgraduate Student of Chemistry Department, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada 2 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Sebelas Maret University, Jl. Ir Sutami 36A Surakarta 57126 3 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Sekip Utara Kotak Pos BLS 21, Yogyakarta Indonesia 55281 4 Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Bulaksumur Yogyakarta Indonesia 55281 5 Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences and Engineering, Saga University, I-Honjo, Saga 840-8502, Japan Received February 10, 2011; Accepted July 19, 2011 ABSTRACT The aim research is application of poly-5-allyl-calix[4]arene tetra carboxylic acid as adsorbent of heavy metal cations. Adsorption was carried out towards Pb(II), Cd(II) and Cr(III) ions in batch system. Several variables including pH, contact time and initial concentration of metal ions were determined. The optimum adsorption conditions were achieved at pH 6.0 for Cd(II) and Cr(III), while at pH 5.5 for Pb(II) ions. In addition, the optimum contact time of Pb (II), Cd(II) and Cr(III) ion adsorption were 180 min. The adsorption kinetics of Pb(II), Cd(II) and Cr(III) ions using the calixarene polymer adsorbent followed a pseudo 2 nd order kinetics model, with adsorption rate constants of 2x10 -2 ; 5x10 -3 , and 3.1x10 -2 g mole -1 min -1 , respectively. Furthermore, the adsorption isotherm of Pb(II) and Cd(II) ions tends to follow the Freundlich isotherm, whereas the adsorption of Cr (III) tends to follow the Langmuir isotherm. The adsorption capacity of Pb(II), Cd(II) and Cr(III) metal ions were 104.04, 61.78 and 228.69 μmole/g, with adsorption energy of 24.87; 21.62 and 31.07 KJ/mole, respectively. Keywords: Poly-5-allyl-calix[4]arene tetra carboxylic acid, adsorption, Cd(II), Pb(II), Cr(III), kinetics adsorption, isotherm adsorption INTRODUCTION As a consequence of the industrialization process, environmental pollution become the major problems that have to be solved and controlled firmly. Many toxic heavy metals have been persistently released into the environment as industrial wastes, causing serious soil and water pollution. Heavy metals are not biodegradable and have become an ecotoxicological hazard of increasing significance owing to their harmful effect on human physiology. Lead, cadmium and chromium are examples of heavy metals that are very toxic to both man and animal. At present, a number of technologies such as ion exchange, chemical precipitation [1], extraction [2], reverse osmosis, evaporation, membrane filtration and adsorption [3] were used for wastewater treatment. Adsorption method is relatively simple method, which could be applied for contaminant at low concentrations. Adsorption process is generally based on the interaction between metals and functional groups existed on the surface of the adsorbent through complex formation. Many kinds of functional groups such as OH,-NH,-SH and -COOH may be employed as the active sites on the surface of the adsorbent [4]. Several adsorbents have been utilized to adsorb heavy metals, such as zeolites [5], charcoal [6], activated carbon [7], fly ash [8], chitin and chitosan [9- 11], biomass [12], humic acid [13] and sugarcane bagasse [14]. One group of compounds that have potential to be developed as an adsorbent is calixarene. Calixarene can be classified as macrocyclic molecules like crown ether and cyclodextrin [15]. Calixarene has active groups arranged in unique molecular geometry in the form of vase or pot in which can be used as host of cation, anion and neutral molecule [16]. Studies on adsorption of heavy metal by calixarenes have been reported by Shinkai et al. [17], Sonoda et al. [18], Ohto et al. [19], Metin et al. [20] and Dey et al. [21]. In addition, the use of calix[4]arenes, calix[4]resorsinarene and polypropilcalix[4]arenes as adsorbent was also carried out by Jumina et al. [22-23]. Studies on adsorption of heavy metal by polymer calixarene has been done by Utomo [24] and