Separation of Ni2+, Cu2+ and Cr6+ Metal Ions from Water by Complexation Micro Filtration Technique Using Synthetic Polymer Membranes

Waste water from industrial areas contains many toxic heavy metal ions, which are carcinogenic and need to be removed before water recycling. In this study, complexation microfiltration technique was used to separate the metal ions. Initially, known concentrations of metal ions were complexed with polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polyacrylic acid (PAA). Polymer enhanced microfiltration process has been investigated for removal of toxic heavy metals such as Ni2+, Cu2+ and Cr6+ from synthetic waste water solutions. The concentration of metal ions in the sample water was analyzed by UV?Vis spectrophotometer. The effects of pH and polymer/metal ratio using two different membranes such as nylon and cellulose nitrate (CN) were investigated. The membranes were characterized by FTIR to identify the functional groups present in the membrane matrix and SEM analysis used to find the pore size and the metal deposition present over the membrane. Among the various combinations, PAA as the complexing agent at pH ? 8 proved to be most effective for the removal of nickel (II) and copper (II), and pH ? 4 for chromium (VI) metal ions.