Gamma Radiation Induced Preparation of Poly ( vinylpyrilidone-Maleic acid-Amidoxime ) Resin for Sorption of Some Metal Ions

This work was undertaken to prepare new modified polymeric adsorbent containing amidoxime functional group. Poly(vinylpyrilidonemaleic acid-acrylonitrile) P(PVP-MA-AN) was prepared, modified and functionalized with amidoxime, P(PVP-MA-AO). The P(PVP-MA-AO) resin was prepared by gamma irradiation grafting polymerization of P(PVP-MA-AN) in the presence of ammonium ferrous sulfate. Conversion of nitrile groups into the amidoxime was carried out by hydroxylamine in alkaline solution. The identification of amidoxime group was qualitatively performed. The structure of the prepared modified polymeric resin was characterized and confirmed by FTIR, TGA, SEM and surface area analyzer. Results showed that the monomers were successfully grafted and converted into amidoxime. The ion exchange behavior of P(PVP-MA-AO) resin was investigated for sorption of La , Ce, Nd, Eu,and U. Batch experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of pH, contact time and metal ion concentration on the sorption capacity of P(PVP-MA-AO) resin. The obtained results demonstrated that the new prepared sorbent has higher sorption uptake for U4+ than that for La3+ , Ce3+, Nd3+, Eu3+. The results also revealed that the new P(PVP-MA-AO) resin has relatively high selectivity and high capacity for U4+ reached to 152 mg/gm. KeywordsGrafting copolymer, Irradiation, Lanthanides, Uranium, Sorption.