Hydrolyzed poly(styrene-co-maleic anhydride) (PSMA) as a high-efficiency adsorbent is used for recovering La³⁺, Eu³⁺, Tb³⁺, and Yb³⁺ from the simulate wastewater of bastnaesite leach liquor. The pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order models are used to fit adsorption data in the kinetic studies and the results show good correlation with the pseudo-second-order model. The Langmuir model is found to fit for the isotherm data of all the rare earth ions (RE³⁺) and the maximum adsorption capacity of hydrolyzed PSMA is 285.79, 301.92, 305.46, and 336.65 mg g⁻¹ at 298 K for La³⁺, Eu³⁺, Tb³⁺, and Yb³⁺, respectively. The adsorption could be conducted in at pH 6.0 and the equilibrium is fast established in 30 min. Competition from coexisting ions (Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺) was proved to be insignificant. Moreover, the spent adsorbent could be well regenerated and kept above 80% of adsorption efficiency at the end of the fifth cycle. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 43676.

Copolymers of aniline-g-poly(styrene-co-maleic anhydride) (AP/SMA) and its lanthanide(III) (Ln) ion complexes [Ln–AP/SMA (where Ln = La, Eu, Tb, or Yb)] were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ¹H-NMR analysis, thermogravimetry–differential thermal analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry. At room temperature, the fluorescence spectra showed that the AP/SMA polymer had a strong, broad emission band at 300–550 nm (maximum wavelength = 381 nm) under excitation at 293 nm. Moreover, the respective characteristic emissions of Eu(III) and Tb(III) ions were observed in their Ln(III) complexes. Both the Eu(III) complexes and Tb(III) complexes showed excellent solvent resistance, good thermal stability, high quantum yield, and a long fluorescent lifetime. Therefore, the AP/SMA polymer and the fluorescent Ln–AP/SMA complexes have a promising future in applications of fluorescence materials. In addition, the reaction spontaneously reached equilibrium only after 5 min in the water phase; this showed that AP/SMA has good application prospects in the adsorption of Ln ions. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 130: 3432–3439, 2013

The copolymers of (Z)-4-oxo-4-phenoxyl-2-butenoic acid with styrene (PSt/OPBA) and their macromolecular luminous lanthanide complexes (Ln-PSt/OPBA) have been synthesized and characterized by means of GPC, elemental analysis, FTIR, X-ray powder diffraction, spectral analysis, and thermal analysis. The IR studies showed that the carboxylic groups on the side chain of the polymer were coordinated to lanthanide ions by bidentate manner. However, the ethereal oxygen, instead of carbonyl, also bonded to the central lanthanide ions, which was an intriguing phenomenon for ester-coordinated complexes. X-ray diffraction experiments revealed that these PSt/OPBA copolymers were amorphous, but Ln-PSt/OPBA were crystalline, in which the complex Eu-L^c belonged to a high symmetric structure of orthorhombic quadratic system, with a = 10.59 ± 0.02 Å, c = 8.02 ± 0.01 Å; c/a = 0.763. In addition, the value δ (the number of free carboxylic groups) in Ln-PSt/OPBA complexes increased with the decreasing mole ratio of styrene in the copolymers, while it decreased with increasing pH values of the solution. Eu³⁺ and Tb³⁺ complexes exhibited characteristic fluorescence with comparatively high brightness and good monochromaticity, and the fluorescence intensity was enhanced with increasing the content of lanthanide up to around 18 wt % without typical fluorescence concentration quenching behavior in the solid state. So using polymers as a matrix, Ln-PSt/OPBA are likely to provide new materials that possess specific properties and desired features. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012

In this study, the luminescent macromolecular lanthanide complexes with the copolymers of styrene (St) and 2-butenedioic acid (z)-mono-ethyl ester (BAME) have been synthesized, and an extensive characterization has been carried out by means of elemental analysis, FTIR, thermal analysis, and fluorescence determination. The results showed that the carboxylic groups on the chain of the polymers acted as bidentate ligands coordinated to lanthanide ions; and the coordination degree of -COO⁻/Ln³⁺ in the macromolecular complexes was closely dependent on both the pH value of the solution and the molar ratio of St to BAME in the polymeric ligands. Thermal analysis manifested that the macromolecular complexes Ln-PSt/BAME (Ln = Y, Sm, Dy, Eu, and Tb) were highly crosslinked and had high thermal stability and solvent resistance. The fluorescence determination indicated that Ln-PSt/BAME complexes could emit characteristic fluorescence with comparatively high brightness and good monochromaticity, and the fluorescence intensity increased with an increasing of lanthanide content. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011

A series of new complexes of poly(styrene-co-methacrylic acid) with Ln(III) (Ln = La, Eu, Tb) were synthesized and well characterized by means of elemental analysis, FTIR, differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) analysis, TG-DTA analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and fluorescence determination. The elemental analysis and FTIR studies showed that a large part of carboxylic groups on the side chain of the copolymer are coordinated with Ln(III) ions. The TG-DTA and DSC analysis results indicated that the complexes have good thermal stability. XRD experiments showed that copolymers and the complexes are amorphous. Among these complexes, Eu(III) complexes and Tb(III) complexes exhibit characteristic fluorescence with comparatively high brightness and good monochromaticity. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009

In this study, the luminescent macromolecular lanthanide complexes Ln-PSt/AA (Ln = Eu and Tb; St = styrene; AA = acrylic acid) have been synthesized, and an extensive characterization has been carried out by means of elemental analysis, FTIR, thermal analysis, and fluorescence determination. The results showed that the carboxylic groups on the chain of the polymers acted as bidentate ligands coordinated to lanthanide ions; and the coordination degree of COO⁻/Ln³⁺ in the macromolecular complexes was closely dependent on both the pH value of the solution and the molar ratio of St to AA in the polymeric ligands. Thermal analysis manifested that these Ln-PSt/AA (Ln = Eu and Tb) complexes had high thermal stability and solvent resistance, and these macromolecular complexes were highly crosslinked. The fluorescence determination indicated that Ln-PSt/AA complexes could emit characteristic fluorescence with comparatively high brightness and good monochromaticity, and the fluorescence intensity changed with increasing lanthanide ions content. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009

A novel manufacturing process for high performance metallic can coating was carried out based on an epoxy-grafted acrylic resin. Firstly, the epoxy resin was reacted with acrylic amide forming a ring opened product epoxy-amide resin, and then the product obtained copolymerized with all other monomers, such as acrylic acid (AA), butyl acrylate (BA), hydroxypropyl acrylate (HPA), 2-ethylhexyl acrylate (2-EHA), methyl methacrylate (MMA), styrene (St), using free radical solvent polymerization in the presence of BPO. The resins prepared present the transparent appearance, and the target resin coating based on these resins exhibits excellent boiling resistance and chemicals resistance and can be applied as the protective coating for metallic can. The effects on the coating properties, such as amount of acrylic acid, 2-EHA wt % between 2-EHA and BA, amount of amino resin, amount of catalyst, and so forth, were investigated. In addition, the influences of polymerization time on the conversion ratio of monomers were also studied. Results show that under the optimal conditions, the target resin coating provides excellent physical and mechanical properties. The various properties tests for this coating have been performed in accordance with the standards of ASTM. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008