Preparation of Antibioadhering Materials Containing Quaternary Phosphonium Salt for Uranium Extraction from Seawater

In this paper, three antibioadhering materials with quaternary phosphonium salt-modified polyamidoxime (PAO-QPS) for uranium extraction from seawater were prepared using commercial polyacrylonitrile fiber as the base material by the ion-exchange method. Infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis were used to verify the correctness of the structure and to test the thermal stability of the synthetic materials. Scanning electron microscopy was used to analyze the microscopic appearance of the material surface. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to determine the composition of the surface elements before and after modification of the material and after adsorption of uranium. The uranium adsorption and biological adhesion resistance of the materials were tested. Polyamidoxime-modified hexyltriphenylphosphonium bromide (PAO-C6) was the best adsorption material among the three quaternary phosphonium salt-modified materials with different alkyl chains. The adsorption kinetic curve and adsorption isotherm were drawn according to the uranium adsorption results. The results showed that the adsorption time and temperature were positively correlated to the uranium adsorption capacity of PAO-C6. The maximum uranium adsorption capacity of PAO-C6 could reach 23.6 mg·g–1 in the simulated seawater with a uranium concentration of 3.3 mg·L–1. In addition, the inhibition rates of the material to Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were 87.60 and 90.59%, respectively, and the inhibition rate against marine bacteria reached 80.61%, indicating that PAO-C6 has good antibioadhering properties. PAO-C6 was expected to be used for uranium extraction from seawater.