Phosphate functionalized radiation grafted Teflon for capturing and quantifications of U(VI) and Pu(IV) ions at ultra-trace concentration in aqueous samples

A phosphate groups bearing thin polymer film has been anchored on Teflon by radiation induced grafting and subsequent chemical modification. Thus formed phosphate-g-Teflon (Ph-g-T) sheet has been characterized appropriately and studied for its selectivity towards Pu(IV) and U(VI) ions at different acidities. Depending upon acidity dependent selectivity of Ph-g-T toward actinides ions, the solid state nuclear track detector based methods was developed to quantify Pu(IV) and U(VI) at ultra-trace concentration in a variety of aqueous samples.