Modeling and Characterization of Ion‐Imprinted Polymer for Arsenic Species Removal From Aqueous Solution

Abstract Arsenic (As) contamination is a global issue, especially in As‐rich geological formations. In this study, an ion‐imprinted polymer (As(III)‐IIP) is synthesized and characterized in terms of kinetic modeling and application via solid phase extraction (SPE). As is detected by using the inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometer (ICP‐MS). The surface study is also included in this study, in which the differences between non‐imprinted polymer (NIP) and As(III)‐IIP before and after sorption are observed via field electron scanning electron microscope (FESEM). As a result, As(III)‐IIP follows the pseudo‐second‐order of reaction in kinetics and reaches 95% within 5 min of removal. In FESEM micrographs, As(III)‐IIP shows the particles on the surface are likely homogenous compared to NIP. Whereas As(III)‐IIP after sorption is much more likely bigger than the original As(III)‐IIP due to the expansion of particles during agitation in an aqueous solution. In the first cycle, 99.53% ± 0.45% of removal in real wastewater analysis is obtained via SPE. However, for the second cycle onwards, the removal is not removed totally, which shows that a new combination of eluent is required. In conclusion, As(III)‐IIP shows good potential as a sorbent to be used for the removal of As from wastewater.