Polyamine-modified polyacrylonitrile fibers for efficient removal of U(VI) from real fluorine-contained low-level radioactive wastewater

Abstract It is of great significance to develop an adsorbent with high adsorption capacity and excellent resistance to anion and cation interference toward the removal of U(VI). Herein, a novel polyamine-modified polyacrylonitrile-based fiber (PANPA) has been synthesized through hydrothermal method, which can validly remove U(VI) from solution. Combined with mesoscopic, spectral characterization and simulation method, the removal behavior and mechanism of U(VI) from high fluorine uranium-containing wastewater by PANPA are systematically investigated. The results show that, based on the strong coordination principle of polyamine group and UO22+, PANPA can selectively remove U(VI) from wastewater. In addition, the qmax of 459.27 mg g−1 was more than that of many other adsorbent materials. More importantly, PANPA is not affected by high concentration of F−, and exhibits higher distribution coefficient (559,900 mL g−1) and removal efficiency (99.5%) to U(VI) than other coexisting ions in real wastewater. Furthermore, the column experiment was also implemented to remove U(VI). The results indicate that PANPA is a promising material to effectively remove U(VI) from real wastewater produced during the fabrication of nuclear fuel elements.