Synthesis of Inter-Reticular Anionites for Uranium Sorption

A new method for modifying ion-exchange resins was developed in order to improve the performance of industrial ionites used in the extraction of uranium. It consists in using polymer matrices made from several interpenetrating low-linkage polymer networks, which are obtained by repeated polymerization of a mixture of mono- and divinyl monomers, solvating the primary copolymer. Using this method, inter-reticular anionites for uranium sorption were synthesized by the means of double copolymerization of styrene and divinyl benzene followed by chloromethylation of the obtained matrix and amination of the chloromethylated copolymer by pyridine. It is shown that in terms of the uranium sorption capacity and kinetic characteristics inter-reticular anionites surpass the best foreign-made resins by factors of 1.3–1.8.