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National
Science Foundation
Experimental Program to
Stimulate Competitive Research
Summer
Undergraduate Diversity Research Program
Bunly Pel
Faculty
Advisor
Dr. Edward Rosenberg
Department
of Chemistry
Silver
Recovery from Waste Solution
Using Silica Polyamine Composite Materials
Abstract
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Silica polyamine composite
materials have been developed for metal ion separation, removal, and recovery
from acid mine leaches, metal processing industries and industrial waste
water. A patented method used to synthesize these composites includes
attaching hydrophilic polymers to amorphous porous silica gel, then attaching
small organic molecules to the polymers allowing for metal ion selectivity.
The patented silica polyamine composites tested are called WP-1 and WP-2.
WP-1 is synthesized by covalently bonding polyethyleneimine (PEI) to treated
porous silica gel. WP-2 is synthesized from WP-1 forming an alpha-aminocarboxylic
acid ligand. My research included testing analytical methods for determining
copper and silver ion concentrations. Batch tests and pH profiles were
done on WP-1 and WP-2 to test for metal ion capture. My results are being
used to develop a method for recovering silver from waste x-ray development
solutions.
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