A spindle-shaped phosphotungstic acid loaded amidoximated natural bamboo strip for extracting uranium

Background Inorganic materials with high O/N content for Uranium Extraction from Seawater (UES) show fast-adsorption rate, but practical applications are limited by their easy dispersion, difficult recovery, and poor selectivity. Therefore, inspired by the macroscopic large-area molding, antibacterial properties, and hierarchical porous microstructure of bamboo strips (BS), a nanoscale spindle-shaped phosphotungstic acid (PTA) loaded amidoximated BS (AOBS) as the inorganic/organic composite material with high O/N content is designed and applied to extracting uranium. Methods Under the effects of the hydrogen bonding crosslinking, the protonation process of -NH 2 , the physical limitations of PEG molecular chains, and others, a nanoscale spindle-shaped PTA loaded fibrous AOBS (PW 12 AOBS) is successfully synthesized by chemical cross-linking and hydrothermal methods. Significant Findings PW 12 AOBS has the super-hydrophilic surface and ultra-fast infiltration rate, so that it exhibits an excellent antibacterial performance and a super-fast adsorption rate. When the contact time is 5 mins, the adsorption capacity is 195.6 mg·g −1 , and a removal rate of uranium is 78.2 %. The highest removal rate of uranium is 82.6 %, and the adsorption capacity reaches 343.6 μg·g −1 in simulated seawater. The terminal OH/-COOH and bridging W = O from PW 12 AOBS synchronously act as the active sites for extracting uranium.