The
recovery of uranium from seawater is of great concern because of the
growing demand for nuclear energy. Though amidoxime-functionalized
adsorbents as the most promising adsorbents have been widely used
for this purpose, their low selectivity and vulnerability to biofouling
have limited their application in real marine environments. Herein,
a new bifunctional phosphorylcholine-modified adsorbent (PVC–PC)
is disclosed. The PVC–PC fiber is found to be suitable for
use in the pH range of seawater and metals that commonly coexist with
uranium, such as alkali and alkaline earth metals, transition metals,
and lanthanide metals, have no obvious effect on its uranium adsorption
capacity. PVC–PC shows better selectivity and adsorption capacity
than the commonly used amidoxime-functionalized adsorbent. Furthermore,
PVC–PC fiber exhibits excellent antibacterial properties which
could reduce the effects of biofouling caused by marine microorganisms.
Because of its good selectivity and antibacterial property, phosphorylcholine-based
material shows great potential as a new generation adsorbent for uranium
recovery from seawater.
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