On the Mechanism of the Steady-State Gamma Radiolysis-Induced Scissions of the Phenyl-Vinyl Polyester-Based Resins.

The major societal problem of polymeric waste necessitates new approaches to break down especially challenging discarded waste streams. Gamma radiation was utilized in conjunction with varying solvent environments in an attempt to discern the efficacy of radiolysis as a tool for the deliberate degradation of model network polyesters. Our EPR results demonstrated that gamma radiolysis of neat resin and in the presence of four widely used solvents induces glycosidic scissions on the backbone of the polyester chains.

A highly efficient uranium grabber derived from acrylic fiber for extracting uranium from seawater.

Acrylic fiber can be chemically converted to an amidoxime and carboxylate containing chelating adsorbent by a two-step synthesis method for extraction of uranium from seawater. A portion of the nitrile groups in the fiber is first converted to amidoxime using hydroxylamine followed by conversion of another portion of the nitrile groups to carboxylate with NaOH. At an optimized ratio of amidoxime/carboxylate (about 1 : 1), the chelating fiber in real seawater shows a higher uranium adsorption capacity and shorter saturation time compared with similar high-surface-area chelating fibers developed recently using a radiation-induced grafting method.

Carbonate-H₂O₂ leaching for sequestering uranium from seawater.

Uranium adsorbed on amidoxime-based polyethylene fiber in simulated seawater can be quantitatively eluted at room temperature using 1 M Na2CO3 containing 0.1 M H2O2. This efficient elution process is probably due to the formation of an extremely stable uranyl-peroxo-carbonato complex in the carbonate solution.