Vol.:(0123456789) Polymer Bulletin https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-019-02852-6 1 3 ORIGINAL PAPER A new Schif’s base polymer for remediation of phenol, 2‑chlorophenol and 2,4‑dichlorophenol from contaminated aqueous systems Fozia K. Soomro 1  · Saima Q. Memon 1  · Najma Memon 2  · M. Y. Khuhawar 3 Received: 24 September 2018 / Revised: 1 May 2019 / Accepted: 19 June 2019 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2019 Abstract In the present study, a Schif’s base polymer (SBP) has been synthesized by the con- densation of trifuoroacetylacetone and amino-polystyrene copolymer resin. After the characterization of synthesized polymer by FT-IR spectroscopy, thermal and elemental analyses, the removal of 2-chlorophenol (2-CP), 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4- DCP) along with phenol is optimized using response surface methodology. Eight- een runs design were performed with diferent levels of variables in order to opti- mize sorption parameters such as pH, concentration of adsorbate, agitation time and amount of polymeric resin SBP. Maximum Langmuir sorption capacity obtained was 110.7, 125.3 and 195.4 mg g −1 , for phenol, 2-CP and 2,4-DCP, respectively. Recovery of adsorbed phenol, 2-CP and 2,4-DCP was checked by diferent solvents and was found to be quantitative (~ 99%) with methanol. The model was validated by performing sorption experiments at optimum conditions. Kinetic and isotherm studies of all three analytes on SBP are also discussed. Keywords Schif’s base polymer · Sorption parameters · Polystyrene copolymer resin · Response surface methodology · Factorial design Introduction In recent years, extensive use of toxic compounds produced a serious environmental threat which demands to be solved seriously. Among these toxic compounds, phe- nol and its chlorinated derivatives are high-priority pollutants and are registered at * Saima Q. Memon saimaqmemon@usindh.edu.pk 1 M. A. Kazi Institute of Chemistry, University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Pakistan 2 National Center of Excellence in Analytical Chemistry, University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Pakistan 3 Institute of Advanced Research Studies in Chemical Sciences, University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Pakistan