ANALYSIS OF HEAVY METAL IONS IN WASTEWATER

Abstract

The present study examines the applicability of sorption-based methods combined with solid-phase immobilized reagents for the determination of toxic heavy metal ions in wastewater. Various sorbent materials, including polymer ion-exchange resins, naturally occurring minerals, and chemically modified nanoparticles, were employed to investigate metal uptake efficiency. Special emphasis was placed on the role of surface functional groups (–COOH, –NH₂, –SO₃H) in metal ion binding processes. Immobilization of organic chelating reagents within polymer supports resulted in a substantial enhancement of analytical sensitivity and selectivity. The developed approach enabled effective preconcentration and accurate determination of Cr(III), Cu(II), Mn(II), and Co(II) ions at trace concentration levels ranging from 10⁻⁵ to 10⁻⁶ mol/L. These findings highlight the practical significance of the proposed methodology for industrial wastewater monitoring, selective sorbent development, and the optimization of automated analytical techniques.