Novel poly(imide dioxime) sorbents: Development and testing for enhanced extraction of uranium from natural seawater

[Display omitted] •Hydroxylamine reacts with acrylonitrile forming both amidoxime and imide dioxime.•Formation of cyclic imide dioxime maximized by treating with DMSO at 130°C for 3h.•High e− donation ability of imine N in conjugated imide dioxime strongly binds U.•So far, highest reported U adsorption capacity in seawater with selectivity over V. A new series of amidoxime-based polymer adsorbents were synthesized at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) by electron beam induced grafting of acrylonitrile and itaconic acid onto polyethylene fiber. Hydroxylamine derivatives of poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN) moiety are demonstrated to possess two kinds of functional groups: open-chain amidoxime and cyclic imide dioxime. The open-chain amidoxime is shown to convert to imide dioxime on heat treatment in the presence of an aprotic solvent, like dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO). The formation of amidoxime and imide dioxime was confirmed by 13C CP-MAS spectra. The adsorbents were evaluated for uranium adsorption efficiency at ORNL with simulated seawater spiked with 8ppm uranium and 5gallon seawater in a batch reactor, and in flow-through columns with natural seawater at the Marine Science Laboratory (MSL) of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) at Sequim Bay, WA. The DMSO-heat-treated sorbents adsorbed uranium as high as 4.48g-U/kg-ads. from seawater. Experimental evidence is presented that the poly(imide dioxime) is primarily responsible for enhanced uranium adsorption capacity from natural seawater. The conjugated system in the imide dioxime ligand possesses increased electron donation ability, which is believed to significantly enhance the uranyl coordination in seawater.