Abstract
Poly(2‐acrylamido glycolic acid‐co‐2‐acrylamido‐2‐methyl‐1‐propane sulfonic acid) [P(AGA‐co‐APSA)] was synthesized by radical polymerization in an aqueous solution. The water‐soluble polymer, containing secondary amide, hydroxyl, carboxylic, and sulfonic acid groups, was investigated, in view of their metal‐ion‐binding properties, as a polychelatogen with the liquid‐phase polymer‐based retention technique under different experimental conditions. The investigated metal ions were Ag^+^, Co^2+^, Ni^2+^, Cu^2+^, Zn^2+^, Cd^2+^, Pb^2+^, and Cr^3+^, and these were studied at pHs 3, 5, and 7. P(AGA‐co‐APSA) showed efficient retention of all metal ions at the pHs studied, with a minimum of 60% for Co(II) at pH 3 and a maximum close to 100% at pH 7 for all metal ions. The maximum retention capacity (n metal ion/n polymer) ranged from 0.22 for Cd^2+^ to 0.34 for Ag^+^. The antibacterial activity of Ag^+^, Cu^2+^, Zn^2+^, and Cd^2+^ polymer–metal complexes was studied, and P(AGA‐co‐APSA)–Cd^2+^ presented selective antibacterial activity for Staphylococcus aureus with a minimum inhibitory concentration of 2 μg/mL. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009