Phosphate functionalized poly(vinyl alcohol)/poly(acrylic acid) (PVA/PAA): an electrospinning nanofiber for uranium separation

With the aim of capturing uranium from water mediums phosphate functionalized poly(vinyl alcohol)/poly(acrylic acid) (PVA/PAA) nanofiber (PVA/PAA-PO 4 ) was firstly fabricated using the electrospinning method of fast process and high efficiency. The as-prepared PVA/PAA-PO 4 showed excellent water stability and tensile strength besides competitive uranium uptake capacity of 277.78 mg/g. Phosphate played a vital role in the structure of PVA/PAA-PO 4 for the attractive uranium uptake capacity. PVA/PAA-PO 4 was characterized by SEM, XPS, FT-IR and omnipotence machine. The effects of pH, ionic strength, oscillation time, initial uranium concentration and temperature on the uranium adsorption with PVA/PAA-PO 4 were studied. The elution with different kinds of acids was conducted and the reusability through the adsorption-desorption cycle test was carried out. The work provided a promising candidate for uranium separation from aqueous solution.