High selectivity of oxime-modified ZIFs to uranium

Seawater contains a large amount of uranium resources, which can meet the needs of current nuclear energy development. We designed and synthesized the oxime-modified ZIFs material, grafted the oxime group on the imidazole ligand, and improved the selective adsorption ability of uranium. In simulated seawater experiments, its adsorption effect on uranium is much higher than vanadium. The sorption could reach equilibrium with a capacity of 625 mg/g within 0.17 h at pH 5.0. Compared with the often sorbent, the oxime-modified sorbent showed faster kinetics, higher selectivity and higher extraction capacity for uranium extraction. This experiment provides an effective method for designing a highly selective sorbent for uranium, and broadens the ideas for the development of new seawater uranium extraction sorbents.