Transformation details of poly(acrylonitrile) to poly(amidoxime) during the amidoximation process

High mechanical property and hydrophilic electrospun poly amidoxime/poly acrylonitrile composite nanofibrous mats for extraction uranium from seawater

Seawater reserves about 4.5 billion tons of uranium, if properly extracted, could be a sustainable green energy resource for hundreds of years, alternating its limited terrestrial ore and reducing the CO2 emitted from fossil fuels. The current seawater uranium adsorbents suffer neither economically viable nor adsorption efficiency, requiring more development to harvest satisfactorily uranium from seawater. Amidoxime-based fibrous adsorbents are the most promising adsorbents of seawater uranium due to abundant chelating sites. However, they suffer from severe shrinkage and stiffness once they dry, losing porous architecture and mechanical properties. Herein, an economical and scalable two-nozzle electrospinning technology was applied to produce poly amidoxime nanofibers (PAO NFs) supported by Poly acrylonitrile nanofibers (PAN NFs) as composite PAO/PAN nanofibrous mats with high structure stability. These PAO/PAN mats, with rapid wettability and excellent mechanical strength, show promising uranium adsorption capacities of 369.8 mg/g at seawater pH level, much higher than PAO and PAN NFs. The uranium adsorption capacity of the PAO/PAN mat reached 5.16 mg/g after 7 days of circulating (10 ppm uranium) spiked natural seawater. Importantly, the composite mat maintained its fibrous structure after five adsorption-desorption cycles with more than 80 % of its adsorption capacity, confirming its recyclability and stability. Therefore, the composite PAO/PAN mat fulfills the basic requirements for effectively and economically trapping uranium from seawater, which could be a matrix for further development.

Efficient and rapid adsorption of methylene blue dyes by novel metal-organic frameworks and organic/inorganic hybrid alginate-based dual network gel composites

To address the limitations of gel-based adsorbents, such as inadequate mechanical strength, low adsorption capacity, and limited reusability, this study presents an innovative approach employing a dual network gel. The dual network consists of calcium alginate (CA) ionic crosslinked organic networks, and vinyl silica-based nanoparticles (VSNP) as crosslinking agents in acrylic acid (AA) free radical polymerization networks (denoted as P (AA-co-VSNP), abbreviated as PAV). After freeze-drying, ultimately yielding an organic/inorganic hybrid dual network gel (referred to as CA/P(AA-co-VSNP), abbreviated as CPAV), enriched with abundant functional groups, thereby enhancing material reusability. To further enhance the adsorption capacity, CPAV undergoes hydrothermal reactions to obtain metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) composite dual network gel adsorbent (UiO-66@CPAV). UiO-66@CPAV exhibited a density of 0.165 g/cm3 and showcased a unique pore structure with nested macropores and mesopores, featuring a uniform distribution of pore holes. Notably, the specific surface area was measured at 96.3 m2/g, and an average pore diameter was 17.9 nm. Most impressively, the actual maximum adsorption capacity reached 841.7 mg/g, and even after 10 cycles of use, the adsorption capacity remained 91.9 % of its initial value. Overall, this research introduced a novel methodology for the development of dual network MOFs@gel adsorbents, showcasing promising advancements in the field.

Adsorption of Pd(II) ions by electrospun fibers with effective adsorption sites constructed by N, O atoms with a particular spatial configuration: Mechanism and practical applications

The separation and recovery of palladium from electronic waste (e-waste) are of great significance as they can alleviate environmental pollution and avoid resource loss. Herein, a novel nanofiber modified by 8-hydroxyquinoline (8-HQ-Nanofiber) with adsorption sites co-constructed by N and O atoms of hard bases was fabricated, which has good affinity properties for the Pd(II) ions belonging to soft acid in the leachate of e-waste. The adsorption mechanism of 8-HQ-Nanofiber for Pd(II) ions was revealed from the perspective of molecular level relied on a series of characterizations, such as FT-IR, ss-NMR, Zeta potential, XPS, BET, SEM and DFT. The adsorption of Pd(II) ions on 8-HQ-Nanofiber reached equilibrium within 30 min and the maximum uptake capacity was 281 mg/g at 318.15 K. The adsorption behavior of Pd(II) ions by 8-HQ-Nanofiber was described by the pseudo-second-order and Langmuir isotherm models. The 8-HQ-Nanofiber exhibited relatively good adsorption performance after 15 times of column adsorption. Finally, based on hard and soft acids and bases (HSAB) theory, a strategy to regulate the Lewis alkalinity of adsorption sites by specific spatial structures is proposed, which provides a new direction for the design of adsorption sites.

Application of poly(amidoxime)/scrap facemasks in extraction of uranium from seawater: from dangerous waste to nuclear power

To effectively kill microorganisms on scrap facemasks (FMs) surface and provide new material for extracting uranium (U(VI)) from seawater, scrap FMs was treated by N2 capacitance coupled (CCP) plasma and modified with polyamidoxime (PAO). The obtained PAO/FMs was well characterized and applied as an adsorbent in the extraction of U(VI) from seawater. The effects of environmental conditions on the adsorption capability of PAO/FMs for U(VI) were briefly studied. Results showed that plasma technique can synchronously kill microorganisms and induce acrylonitrile (AN) polymerization on FMs surface. The prepared PAO/FMs presented excellent adsorption capability for U(VI). The experimental results highlighted the application of plasma technique in the management of scrap FMs, and PAO/FMs in the extraction of U(VI) from seawater.