Efficient removal of uranium(vi) from simulated seawater using amidoximated polyacrylonitrile/FeOOH composites.

The ability to recover uranium, an important nuclear fuel, from seawater provides the potential for long-term sustainable fuel supply for nuclear energy. In this work, novel amidoximated polyacrylonitrile/FeOOH (FeOOH-APAN) composites were synthesized and characterized by CHN analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), N adsorption-desorption, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). In batch adsorption experiments, a variety of parameters were investigated in detail.

Rapid and efficient uranium(VI) capture by phytic acid/polyaniline/FeOOH composites.

Uranium plays an indispensable role in nuclear energy, but there are limited land resources to meet the ever growing demand; therefore, a need exists to develop efficient materials for capturing uranium from water. Herein, we synthesize a promising adsorbent of phytic acid/polyaniline/FeOOH composites (PA/PANI/FeOOH) by oxidative polymerization. Phytic acid, acting asa gelator and dopant, plays an important role in the formation of polyaniline (PANI).