Abstract: Uranium seawater extraction is strategically important to guarantee the future supply for nuclear power generation. However, it is still a challenge to selectively capture uranium over vanadium in seawater. In this paper, we propose a new method for potential uranium seawater extraction with high selectivity over vanadium. Specifically, surface ion-imprinted polypropylene nonwoven fabric is prepared by copolymerization of 4-vinylbenzyl chloride and 1-vinylimidazole in the presence of uranyl tricarbonate complex. The sorption follows the pseudo-second-order model and can reach the equilibrium with a large capacity of 133.3 mg/g within 15 h at pH 8.0 and 298.15 K. The imprinted fabric shows excellent selectivity toward uranium over vanadium and the other coexisting ions in seawater. In addition, it exhibits good salt-resistant stability and can be regenerated efficiently after five cycles. This work indicates that the imprinted fabric may be a promising sorbent for potential uranium seawater extraction
Template and target information: uranyl ion