A novel thermosensitive porous imprinted polymer for selectively separating ReO4− based on Pickering-like emulsion polymerization

In this study, we combined the imprinting technique, temperature-sensitive polymer, and Pickering emulsion polymerization to prepare a temperature-sensitive porous imprinted polymer. First, the temperature-sensitive block polymer PDEA-b-P (DEA-co-AM) was prepared by reversible-addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization, and then a temperature-sensitive porous ReO 4 − imprinted polymer (ReO 4 − -TPIP) was prepared using the Pickering-like polymerization technique, which was introduced to the preparation of the imprinted polymer. The structure and morphology of the polymer were characterized by FTIR, SEM-EDS, and BET. The adsorption experiments showed that the maximum adsorption (Q), separation (R), and desorption (D) of ReO 4 − -TPIP were 0.1568 mmol/g, 3.41, and 85.22%, respectively, and the adsorption equilibrium could be reached after 120 min, which decreased to 0.1212 mmol/g, 1.23, and 70.01% after repeated use for 11 times. These results indicate that ReO 4 − -TPIP has good adsorption and reusability properties. The adsorption studies showed that ReO 4 − -TPIP conformed to the zero-level kinetic model in the pre-adsorption stage, the quasi-one-level kinetic model in the late stage, and the isothermal adsorption process conformed more to the Langmuir model. In addition, in the secondary leach solution of high-temperature alloys, the purity of rhenium in the solution increased from 35.4119% to 53.4812% after one adsorption/desorption cycle. The prepared ReO 4 − -TPIP provides a new material and strategy for the selective separation and purification of rhenium in complex rhenium-containing solutions for the industry.