Easily Recycled Porous Microparticles Prepared via Electrohydrodynamic Atomization for Selective Uranium Extraction with High Capacity
Kai Yu, Jiahe Chen, Qiufeng Zhu, Bin Li, Xiaohui Zuo, Huiling Lu, Huagui Zhang, Junfeng Wang, Zhentao Wang, Jianming Pan
Abstract
The current study explores the potential of combining the electrohydrodynamic atomization (EHDA) technique with high-performance uranium extraction for the first time, where composite microparticles (CPs) were facilely prepared via the EHDA technique, with the particle size being precisely controlled. The precursor is made of an environmentally friendly aqueous solution of polyamidoxime and sodium alginate. Key parameters for controlling droplet size and generation frequency were determined. The generated microdroplets were collected via a coagulating bath, while transforming the droplets into hydrogel particles. The hydrogel particles were found to be uniform in size (197.1 ± 13.3 μm), with an ultrahigh generating frequency of ∼400 Hz, indicating the formation of 1.44 × 106 particles per hour. The CPs were then obtained after freeze-drying, which were characterized to be a hollow structure, with interpenetrating nanopores being observed inside the particle shell. The CPs showed superior uranium extraction performance (maximum uranium adsorption capacity of 1497.4 mg g–1 at 298 K), pre-eminent uranium selectivity, and antimicrobial properties, which can be readily recovered via sedimentation. This work offers a novel route for generating high-performance uranium adsorbents with controllable size, in a high-efficient, facile, and low-cost way, which shows great potential for sustainable uranium extraction in a commercial scale.