In this study, sulfonation of polystyrene waste was investigated of the possibility of the removing Cu (II) ions in solution. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) of sulfonation polystyrene waste was performed to study the material characteristics and the results showed the presence of sulfonic group bands. | Vietnam Journal of Science and Technology 56 (2C) (2018) 50-55 STUDY OF COPPER REMOVAL IN WATER BY ION EXCHANGE MATERIAL Pham Thi Hang Hai, Nguyen Minh Phuong, Nguyen Linh Chi, Pham Hoang Giang, Nguyen Manh Khai, Pham Thi Thuy* Faculty of Environmental Sciences, VNU University of Science, 334 Nguyen Trai, Ha Noi * Email: phamthithuy@ Received: 09 May 2018; Accepted for publication: 24 August 2018 ABSTRACT In this study, sulfonation of polystyrene waste was investigated of the possibility of the removing Cu (II) ions in solution. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) of sulfonation polystyrene waste was performed to study the material characteristics and the results showed the presence of sulfonic group bands. The efficiency of Cu (II) ion removal in ion exchange column experiments indicated that the quality of sulfonation of polystyrene waste depended on some factors as the reaction time, height of the column and the velocity of the flow rate. Ion exchange experiments were carried out with the columns of 8 and 6 mm internal diameter, of which 10 cm of column bed height in the 8 mm-diameter column obtained the highest efficiency of % at 1 hr reaction time, and flow rate of mL per min. The experimental data were consistent with Thomas and Yoon-Nelson kinetic models. Keywords: ion exchange, polystyrene plastic, sulfonation, copper, contaminated water. 1. INTRODUCTION Economic development is caused of high demand on using instant products such as bowls, plates, spoons and forks. Annually, large quantities of these products, especially plastic waste, are discharged into the environment and accumulated over a long period of time, which caused serious problems to environment and human health. The main component of these disposal items is polystyrene [1], at high temperature there are migration of styrene from them into environment, this potentially toxic may have a toxic effect on the liver, lung functions and causing neurological impairment, etc. [1,
