Plant polyphenol surfactant construction with strong surface activity and chelation properties as efficient decontamination of UO22+ on cotton fabric

Chemically synthesized surfactants have promising applications in the treatment of uranium, however, their hazardous environmental effects, non-biodegradability, and numerous drawbacks prevent them from being widely used in practice. Herein, we successfully synthesized a green chelating and foaming integrated surfactant (BTBS) by Mannich reaction and acylation of bayberry tannin for the effective removal of UO22+ from aqueous environments or solid surfaces. The as-prepared surfactant was systematically characterized by FT-IR, showing that the hydrophobic groups were successfully grafted onto tannin. The modified material showed better foaming and emulsifying properties, which proved this method could improve the amphiphilicity of tannin. Moreover, for the first time, a foam fractionation method in conjunction with a tannin-based surfactant was applied for UO22+ removal from water. This surfactant was used as a co-surfactant and could readily remove 90 % of UO22+ (20 mg L−1) from water. The removal of UO22+ could be completed in a short time (30 min), and the maximum adsorption capacity was determined as 175.9 mg g−1. This surfactant can also be used for efficient decontamination of uranium-contaminated cotton cloth with a high removal rate of 94.55 %. In addition, the mechanism studies show that the adsorption of BTBS for UO22+ can be mainly attributed to a chelating mechanism between UO22+ and the adjacent phenolic hydroxyls. The novel biomass-derived BTBS with advantages such as high capture capacity, environmental friendliness, and cost-effectiveness suggests that it plays an important role in the remediation of radionuclide pollution. [Display omitted] •A green chelating and foaming integrated surfactant (BTBS) was successfully synthesized by Mannich and acylation reactions.•The significant improvement in foaming and emulsifying properties was attributed to the hydrophobic grafting of bayberry tannin.•Combined with ion flotation, BTBS showed a good removal ability (175.9 mg g-1) of UO22+ in water environment in a short time (~ 30 minutes).•Efficient decontamination of uranium-contaminated cotton cloth also can be realized by BTBS with a high removal rate of 94.55%.