Extremely stable amidoxime functionalized covalent organic frameworks for uranium extraction from seawater with high efficiency and selectivity

Gong Cheng; Anrui Zhang; Zhiwei Zhao; Zimin Chai; Baowei Hu; Bing Han; Yuejie Ai; Xiangke Wang

doi:10.1016/j.scib.2021.05.012

Extremely stable amidoxime functionalized covalent organic frameworks for uranium extraction from seawater with high efficiency and selectivity

Sci Bull (Beijing). 2021 Oct 15;66(19):1994-2001. doi: 10.1016/j.scib.2021.05.012. Epub 2021 May 15.

Authors

Gong Cheng¹, Anrui Zhang², Zhiwei Zhao², Zimin Chai², Baowei Hu³, Bing Han⁴, Yuejie Ai⁵, Xiangke Wang⁶

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China; The Key Laboratory of Functional Molecular Solids, Ministry of Education, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu 241000, China.
² Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China.
³ School of Life Science, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing 312000, China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China; The Key Laboratory of Functional Molecular Solids, Ministry of Education, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu 241000, China. Electronic address: hanbing01@ncepu.edu.cn.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China. Electronic address: aiyuejie@ncepu.edu.cn.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China. Electronic address: xkwang@ncepu.edu.cn.

PMID: 36654169
DOI: 10.1016/j.scib.2021.05.012

Abstract

Uranium extraction from seawater is of strategic significance for nuclear power generation. Amidoxime-based functional adsorbents play indispensable roles in the recovery of seawater uranium with high efficiency. Nevertheless, balancing the adsorption capacity and selectivity is challenging in the presence of complicated interfering ions especially vanadium. Herein, a polyarylether-based covalent organic framework functionalized with open-chain amidoxime (COF-HHTF-AO) was synthesized with remarkable chemical stability and excellent crystallinity. Impressively, the adsorption capacity of COF-HHTF-AO towards uranium in natural seawater reached up to 5.12 mg/g, which is 1.61 times higher than that for vanadium. Detailed computational calculations revealed that the higher selectivity for uranium over vanadium originated from the specific bonding nature and coordination pattern with amidoxime. Combining enhanced adsorption capacity, excellent selectivity and ultrahigh stability, COF-HHTF-AO serves as a promising adsorbent for uranium extraction from the natural seawater.

Keywords: Amidoxime; Covalent organic frameworks; Extraction; High selectivity; Uranium.

MeSH terms

Metal-Organic Frameworks*
Seawater
Uranium*
Vanadium

Substances

amidoxime
Metal-Organic Frameworks
Uranium
Vanadium