Analytical Sciences

Adsorption Behavior of Mercury and Precious Metals on Cross-Linked Chitosan and the Removal of Ultratrace Amounts of Mercury in Concentrated Hydrochloric Acid by a Column Treatment with Cross-Linked Chitosan

Koji OSHITA,* Mitsuko OSHIMA,* Yun-hua GAO,** Kyue-Hyung LEE,* and Shoji MOTOMIZU*

*Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Okayama University, 3-1-1 Tsushimanaka, Okayama 700-8530, Japan
**Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

Cross-linked chitosan was synthesized with chitosan and ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether. The adsorption behavior of trace amounts of metal ions on the cross-linked chitosan was systematically examined by packing it in a mini-column, passing a metal solution through it and measuring metal ions in the effluent by ICP-MS. The cross-linked chitosan adsorbed mercury and precious metals (Pd, Pt, and Au) at pH values from acidic to neutral. Especially, mercury in concentrated hydrochloric acids could be adsorbed on cross-linked chitosan quantitatively by an anion-exchange mechanism in the form of a stable chloride complex. This method was applied to the removal of mercury from commercially available hydrochloric acid; more than 97% of mercury was removed, and the residual mercury in the hydrochloric acid (Grade: for trace analysis) was found to be 0.15 ppb. Mercury adsorbed on the cross-linked chitosan could be easily desorbed with an eluent containing 1 M hydrochloric acid and 0.05 M thiourea. The thus-refreshed cross-linked chitosan could be repeatedly used for the removal of mercury in hydrochloric acid.

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