Boron removal from RO permeate of geothermal water by monodisperse poly(vinylbenzyl chloride-co-divinylbenzene) beads containing N-methyl-D-glucamine

Novel boron selective chelating resins were synthesized using monodisperse porous poly(VBC-co-DVB) beads by further functionalization with N-methyl-D-glucamine (NMDG) groups. The performance of the resins for boron removal from geothermal water and its reverse osmosis (RO) permeate has been studied using a batch sorption method. It was possible to remove about 93% of boron from geothermal water containing 11.0 mg B/L with 4 g/L of monodisperse functionalized polymer beads. The respective value for RO permeate of geothermal water with 4.8-5A mg B/L of concentration was 97% with the same amount of chelating resin. The sorption rate of boron was quite rapid. A sorption equilibrium was reached in 20 min for geothermal water and in 10 min for RO permeate. The kinetic data obtained were evaluated using classical kinetic models and diffusion/reaction models. It was concluded that monodisperse chelating resins obeyed pseudo-second order kinetic model. Also, the rate controlling step of boron sorption was mostly particle diffusion along with chemical reaction. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.