Preparation of Amidoxime-Based Nylon-66 Fibers for Removing Uranium from Low-Concentration Aqueous Solutions and Simulated Nuclear Industry Effluents

Amidoximated nylon-66 fiber containing double amidoxime groups per repeating unit (coded as PA66-g-PGMA-IDPAO) for the purpose of removing low uranium concentrations (1–25 mg/L) from aqueous solutions and application in simulated nuclear industry effluents was prepared by a simultaneous radiation-induced emulsion graft polymerization method. It was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and single fiber tensile strength tester. Batch adsorption experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of initial pH, sorption isotherm, adsorption kinetics, and thermodynamics. It was found that the optimum initial pH is 5.0. The sorption isotherm followed the Langmuir isotherm. The adsorption kinetics fit the pseudo-second-order model. The thermodynamics parameters revealed that the adsorption process was spontaneous and endothermic. The sorption test performed in a simulated nuclear industry effluent demonstrated a high adsorption efficiency (about 91.3%) and selectivity for uranium.