Synthesis and application of zirconium phosphate mesoporous coordination polymer for effective removal of Co(II) from aqueous solutions

A kind of zirconium phosphate mesoporous coordination polymer Zr-EDTMPA was successfully synthesized and characterized using XRD, FTIR, TGA, EA, SEM–EDS, and N 2 sorption-desorption measurements. The prepared Zr-EDTMPA was first employed for the removal of Co(II) from an aqueous solution, and the effects of pH, contact time, temperature, initial Co(II) concentration, reusability, and sorption mechanism were systematically investigated. The results showed that the Zr-EDTMPA is a zirconium phosphate complex formed by the coordination of EDTMPA to Zr in a molar ratio of 1:1. The sorption of Co(II) by Zr-EDTMPA was a pH-dependent, spontaneous and endothermic process, which was better fitted to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm model. The Zr-EDTMPA was demonstrated to have excellent reusability and presented a high sorption capacity of 73.0 mg∙g -1 for Co(II) at pH 8.0. The sorption mechanism was mainly attributed to the strong coordination between cobalt and the untapped hydroxyl functional groups on Zr-EDTMPA, which was confirmed by XPS spectra. Therefore, as a candidate sorbent with high sorption capacity and excellent reusability, Zr-EDTMPA has a great potential for the removal of Co(II) from aqueous solutions.