Polyhydroxamic Acid Sorbents for Uranium Recovery

Crosslinked polyacrylamides were synthesized by solution polymerization using benzoyl peroxide as the radical initiator. The water–insoluble polymer obtained was functionalized by reacting with hydroxylamine to convert the amide group into hydroxamic acid group. The resultant functionalized polymer was characterized in terms of moisture uptake, elemental composition, IR spectra, thermal stability, exchange capacity and heavy metal sorption. The sorbent, obtained in particulate form, was investigated for its sorption properties with respect to uranium from uranyl nitrate solutions under unstirred batch conditions. This paper will concentrate on preparation, characterization and performance evaluation with respect to uranium sorption as a function of concentration, time, solution pH and temperature. The potential of this sorbent for uranium and other heavy metal ion recovery from sea water is ascertained.

Keywords:

• uranium separation
• crosslinked polyacrylamide
• hydroxamic acid
• sea water
• solution polymerization

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to gratefully acknowledge Dr. Arvind Kumar Tripathy of the Applied Chemistry Division for IR spectra, and Dr. Lalit Varshney, of the Radiation Technology Development Section, BARC for arranging TGA spectra.