Cationically Charged Poly(amidoxime)-Grafted Polypropylene Nonwoven Fabric for Potential Uranium Extraction from Seawater

The development of sorbent for uranium seawater extraction is critical for guaranteeing future uranium resources for nuclear energy. An amidoxime-based cationically charged fibrous sorbent is reported here for potential uranium extraction from seawater. Specially, poly(1-vinylimidazole) was grafted onto polypropylene nonwoven fabric under γ-ray irradiation and was followed by quaternization and amidoximation to give the fibrous sorbent. The sorption could reach equilibrium with a capacity of 119.76 mg U/g within 50 h at pH 8.0 and 298.15 K. Compared with the uncharged sorbent, the cationic sorbent showed faster kinetics, higher selectivity, and larger capacity for uranium extraction. This work indicates that the cationically charged poly(amidoxime)-grafted nonwoven fabric may be a potential promising sorbent to extract uranium from seawater.