Nano-TiO₂ Imparts Amidoximated Wool Fibers with Good Antibacterial Activity and Adsorption Capacity for Uranium(VI) Recovery

Abstract

Marine bacteria play a key role in marine ecosystems and are one of the main causes of biofouling. Biofouling of adsorbents that are used for uranium recovery usually results in a decrease in uranium recovery. A novel adsorbent with antibacterial activity for uranium recovery in bacterial environments was prepared in our study to address this concern. Amidoxime-functionalized wool fibers with nano-TiO2 particles (Wool-AO@TiO2) was synthesized by radiation-induced graft polymerization combined with in situ coprecipitation of nano-TiO2 particles onto the wool fibers. The presence of nano-TiO2 on the adsorbent was verified by scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The maximum uranium adsorption capacity of Wool-AO@TiO2, acquired from the Langmuir isotherm, was 113.12 mg/g. The introduced nano-TiO2 imparted excellent antibacterial activity to Wool-AO@TiO2. The inhibition of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli by Wool-AO@TiO2 was 95.2% and 90%, respectively. The adsorption capacity was mostly unaffected in bacterial environments, even after four cycles of culturing with bacteria. These results suggest that the prepared Wool-AO@TiO2 adsorbent may promote the development of novel antifouling adsorbents for uranium recovery from seawater.

Preparation of ZnO nanoparticle loaded amidoximated wool fibers as a promising antibiofouling adsorbent for uranium(vi) recovery

“…All other regents were analytical grade and used without further purication. [10][11][12] Pristine wool bers were degreased by acetone. Aer degreasing, the wool bers were immersed into 1000 mL of 1% NaOH (m/v) and treated at 50 C for 10 min to open the cuticle of the wool bers, which were then taken out and washed with deionized water till the pH value of the solution was at neutral.…”

“…[8][9][10] Amidoxime functionalized wool bers have been developed for recovery of uranium due to its good hydrophilicity and good physical stability. [10][11][12][13] Recently, the problem of biofouling in decreasing adsorption performance and the corrosion of adsorbent has been noted by Park et al 14 and Hu et al 15 Due to the concentration of uranium in seawater is critical low, the adsorbents were immersed in the seawater usually for several weeks. Therefore, a variety of microorganisms such as aerobic bacteria, anaerobic bacteria and fungus will adhere on the surface of the adsorbents and thus the biofouled surface might occur.…”

Carbon quantum dots decorated on ZnO nanoparticles: An efficient visible‐light responsive antibacterial agents

“…Bacterial infection has caused many harmful events. In order to solve this problem, many methods and reagents have been used, among which semiconductor photocatalyst is an ideal choice, such as TiO 2, [ 1 ] SnO 2 [ 2 ] and AgS. [ 3 ] Particularly, ZnO has attracted much attention for its excellent antibacterial activity and biocompatibility.…”

Ultrafast Recovery of Uranium from Seawater by Bacillus velezensis Strain UUS‐1 with Innate Anti‐Biofouling Activity

“…The development of sorption materials that can inhibit the binding of biological entities is crucial for the practical application of adsorbents. However, there are only a few studies on the construction of anti‐biofouling adsorbents . With coexisting microbes, the microbes compete with each other by competing for nutrients or by synthesizing antimicrobial substances .…”