The four polymers were studied for their Cu(II) binding abilities using a 0.5:1 and 1:1 CuSO4 to monomer ratio in water. After 1 hour, the results indicated that Na poly-3 displayed the best Cu binding properties of the polymers tested with an 89% copper removal for the 0.5:1 copper to monomer ratio (Fig. ). The other polymers, which are not soluble in water, removed less than 33% of the Cu(II) present. The higher copper ratio of 1:1 also showed that Na poly-3 had the highest affinity to Cu in solution with a removal of 51% while the remaining polymers showed a binding less than 40% (S91-S92). It is suspected that the improved binding of Cu to Na poly-3 was a result of the combination of improved interaction with the metals in water as well as the presence of carboxylate groups that serve as ligands for copper. The binding percentages measured suggest that two carboxylate groups bind to one Cu metal. This form of binding causes cross-linking between polymer chains and precipitation of the polymer as a gel (Fig. ). This precipitation mechanism is useful when considering the use of Na poly-3 as a flocculant in copper recovery processes or remediation applications.