Functionalization of Amberlite XAD-4 with 8-hydroxyquinoline chelator using aryldiazonium radical reaction and its application for solid phase extraction of trace metals from groundwater samples

In this work, the aryldiazonium salts radical addition method has been used successfully to anchor 8-hydroxyquinoline (8-HQ) moieties onto the surface of Amberlite XAD-4 beads. The nitroaniline aryldiazonium salt was generated (in-situ) and covalently grafted onto Amberlite XAD-4 by aid of hypophosphorous acid as a catalyst to facilitate the anchorage of 8-HQ chelator making use of the conventional diazo coupling. The successfulness of the synthesized chelating resin was confirmed by (ATR-IR), (TGA) and (XPS). The risen was packed into cartridges and used with standard solid phase extraction (SPE) apparatus for the extraction of trace metals; Co (II), Ni (II) and Cu (II) from groundwater samples prior to their measurement by (ICP-MS). The resin exhibited more than 90% enhancement in capacity exchange relative to the plain Amberlite XAD-4. Under the optimum conditions the sorption capacity of the sorbent was 0.366, 0.265 and 0.328 (mM/g) for Co (II), Ni (II) and Cu (II) respectively. The sorbent showed efficient performance when applied for SPE of trace metals from groundwater real samples from AlMadinah AlMumnawarah, Saudi Arabia.