Synthetic resin, Amberlite XAD-4 was linked covalently
with the third generation supramolecule, octa-O-methoxy resorcin [4] arene
through -N=N-group to form chelating resin, which has been characterized and
effectively used for the separation and preconcentration of metal ions such as
Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II) and Cd(II). Critical parameters such as pH, flow rate,
sorption capacity, breakthrough studies, distribution coefficient,
preconcentration factor, concentration of eluting agents responsible for
quantitative extraction of metal ions were optimized. The synthesized resin
showed good binding affinity towards Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II) and Cd(II) under
selective pH conditions. Good breakthrough capacity and fast exchange kinetics
of the resin lead to effective separation of metal ions from their binary and
ternary mixture by column method on the basis of pH and eluting agents. The
resin could be reused for about 8 -10 cycles. The proposed method
having the analytical data with the relative standard deviation (RSD) < 2% and
with recoveries of analytes higher than 98%, reflects upon the
reproducibility and reliability of the method which has been successfully applied
in the separation and determination of Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II) and
Cd(II) ions in synthetic, natural and ground water samples.