Preconcentration and separation of iron, zinc, cadmium and mercury, from waste water using Nile blue a grafted polyurethane foam

The present work describes a novel method for the incorporation of Nile blue A into polyurethane foam matrix. This foam material was found to be very suitable for the extraction of metal ions from aqueous solutions. The characterization of Nile blue A grafted foam and the effect of halide concentration, pH, shaking time, extraction isotherm and capacity have been investigated. This foam material was found to be suitable for the separation and preconcentration of iron (III), zinc (II), cadmium (II) and mercury (II) from waste water. The extraction was accomplished in (15–20) minutes. Iron was separated from acid medium (2–4 M HCl), zinc from (3–5 M HCl), cadmium from (4–6 M HCl) as thiocyanate complexes and mercury was separated from (1–2 M HCl) as chloride.