5 years ago

Efficient Removal of Anionic Radioactive Pollutant from Water Using Ordered Urea-Functionalized Mesoporous Polymeric Nanoparticle

Efficient Removal of Anionic Radioactive Pollutant from Water Using Ordered Urea-Functionalized Mesoporous Polymeric Nanoparticle
Kaixuan Wang, Wei Chai, Jian Shen, Fang Zhang
A urea-functionalized ordered mesoporous polymeric nanoparticle for removing the perrhenate anion ReO4 as the surrogate of the particularly intractable anion radioactive pollutant TcO4 was demonstrated in the present study. This nanomaterial (denoted as urea-MPN) was produced for the first time by a surfactant-directed urea-phenol-formaldehyde resol oligomers self-assembly protocol under hydrothermal condition. The obtained urea-MPN possessed the uniform nanosized spherical morphology with a 3D interconnected ordered cubic mesoporous structure. Also, the urea functional groups were succefully embedded in the polymer framework without the alteration of the molecular configuration. Meanwhile, it exhibited excellent β radiation resistance up to 200 kGy dose. We employed the perrhenate anion ReO4 to test its potential for the removal of anionic radioactive pollutant TcO4 from water. Interestingly, the optimized urea-MPN nanocomposite achieved the high removal efficiency at a low concentration of 0.25 mM within a short contact time of 30 min. The control experimental results revealed that the short nanoscale pore channels and the hydrophobic mesopore surface facilitated the hydrogen-bonding interaction between the charge-diffuse ReO4 tetrahedral oxoanion and the urea moieties in the framework of urea-MPN, accounting for the rapid and effective removal performance in pure water. Importantly, it can selectively capture ReO4 in the presence of different competitive anions including NO3, CO32–, SO42–, and PO43–. This attractive capability of this unique nanosized mesoporous polymeric sorbent will pave the way for the diverse applications in the decontamination of nuclear wastes in a more economical and sustainable manner.

Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.7b04325

DOI: 10.1021/acsami.7b04325

You might also like
Discover & Discuss Important Research

Keeping up-to-date with research can feel impossible, with papers being published faster than you'll ever be able to read them. That's where Researcher comes in: we're simplifying discovery and making important discussions happen. With over 19,000 sources, including peer-reviewed journals, preprints, blogs, universities, podcasts and Live events across 10 research areas, you'll never miss what's important to you. It's like social media, but better. Oh, and we should mention - it's free.

  • Download from Google Play
  • Download from App Store
  • Download from AppInChina

Researcher displays publicly available abstracts and doesn’t host any full article content. If the content is open access, we will direct clicks from the abstracts to the publisher website and display the PDF copy on our platform. Clicks to view the full text will be directed to the publisher website, where only users with subscriptions or access through their institution are able to view the full article.