Adsorption of U(VI) by chitosan crosslinked PAO aerogel

Novel chitosan crosslinked amidoxime polyacrylonitrile aerogel was synthesized and used for adsorption of uranium from seawater. The effects of initial uranium concentration, contact time, and pH value on uranium adsorption were investigated. The simulated uranium solution adsorption experiment shows that under the condition of an initial uranium concentration of 100 mg/L, the maximum adsorption capacity of CTS-g-PAO is 203.4 mg/g. The adsorption process can be well-fitted by Freundlich and Pseudo-second order models. In addition, CTS-g-PAO aerogel has good antibacterial activity against marine bacteria, with the antibacterial activity reaching 94.8%. The results demonstrated that CTS-g-PAO aerogel was an effective adsorbent for extracting uranium from seawater.