Full Factorial Design Approach to Hg(II) Adsorption onto Hydrogels

A 2(4) factorial design was used to evaluate the quantitative adsorption of Hg(II) ions in an aqueous solution onto radiation crosslinked poly(acrylic acid/acrylamide) hydrogels. The influence on the binding ratio (r) of variables such as pH, temperature, initial concentration of solution, and material was analyzed statistically using a suggested regression equation. The results demonstrate that the initial concentration of Hg(II) is the most significant parameter. A maximum Hg(II) ion uptake of 15.50 mg/g (with standard deviation, 0.20) was achieved at a high initial Hg(II) concentration (100 mg/L), low pH (2.5), and low temperature (15 A degrees C) for both of radiation crosslinked poly(AAm-co-AAc) hydrogel samples in a significance level of 5%.