Uranium Removal from Seawater by Means of Polyamide 6 Fibers Directly Grafted with Diallyl Oxalate through a Single-Step, Solvent-Free Irradiation Process

• Published in: Industrial & engineering chemistry research Vol. 55; no. 15; pp. 4179 - 4186
• Main Authors: Dietz, Travis C, Tomaszewski, Claire E, Tsinas, Zois, Poster, Dianne, Barkatt, Aaron, Adel-Hadadi, Mohammad, Bateman, Fred B, Cumberland, Lonnie T, Schneider, Erich, Gaskell, Karen, LaVerne, Jay, Al-Sheikhly, Mohamad
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 20-04-2016; American Chemical Society (ACS)
• Subjects: acrylated oxalate; Fabrics; Fibers; Grafting; NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS; nylon; Oxalates; Polyamide resins; Sea water; seawater; Single-step radiation graft polymerization; Textile composites; Uranium; uranium extraction
• ISSN: 0888-5885; 1520-5045
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.5b03401

To test the effectiveness of oxalate-based polymeric adsorbents in the recovery of uranium from seawater, diallyl oxalate (DAOx) was grafted onto polyamide 6 fabrics by exposing the fabric, immersed in pure liquid DAOx or in a surfactant-stabilized dispersion of DAOx in water, to electron beam or γ radiation. After the fabrics were dried and weighed to determine the degree of grafting (DoG), the presence of oxalate in the fabrics was verified using XPS. Zeta potential measurements showed the fabric surfaces to be negatively charged. The fabrics were tested by rotating them for 7 days in a rotary agitator with actual seawater spiked with 0.2 or 1.0 mg·L–1 uranium. The fraction of uranium in the solution which was removed due to uptake on the fabrics was found to rise with increasing DoG at both uranium concentrations. EDS measurements were used to map the distribution of adsorbed uranium on the polymeric fibers.