Swollen-layer constructed with polyamine on the surface of nano-polyacrylonitrile cloth used for extract uranium from seawater

Abstract In this study, a swelling layer was constructed on the surface of the nano-polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fiber fabric prepared by electrospinning to enrich uranium (U (VI)) adsorption from seawater. The constructed swelling layer composes of a polyethyleneimine (PEI) containing a huge amount of amino groups and imino groups with strong hydrophilicity. The molecular chain swelled in an aqueous solution by forming a swelling layer on the PAN surface. In addition, p-aminobenzenesulfonic acid (SA) was used as the side chain end group grafted on the PAN surface, the benzene ring as the side chain can hinder the rotation of the PEI chain, thereby increasing the rigidity. The increasing of the rigidity leads to stretch the conformation of the PEI molecular chain, increasing the probability of collision with U (VI), which is beneficial for adsorption. The adsorption capacity of the prepared adsorbent in the adsorption experiment reached 215.25 mg g−1, and the adsorption capacity in the 8 ppm spiked simulated seawater reached 144.5 mg g−1. The adsorption mechanism of U (VI) was analyzed by XPS. The sulfonic acid group in SA as the terminal group and amino group in the swelling layer formed a coordination structure with U (VI). The swelling layer constructed on the surface of polyacrylonitrile fibers is used to effectively extract uranium from seawater.