Uranium Sorbent Development

Abstract

This report describes the synthesis of amidoxime-based sorbents for uranium extraction from natural waters. Two sorbents were tested, a commercial polyacrylonitrile-based commercial yarn and a nonwoven polypropylene fabric that was grafted with polyacrylonitrile and itaconic acid. The commercial yarn was chosen due to the ease of access and anticipated reproducibility. The polypropylene fabric was produced exclusively during the previous DOE funded Uranium from Seawater campaign and is no longer available. The polypropylene fabric represented a comparison against material developed to extract uranium from seawater, not freshwater.