U(VI) removal on polymer adsorbents: Recent development and future challenges

Abstract

The vigorous development of nuclear power is one of the main strategies to solve the energy crisis and environmental pollution due to clean and high energy density of nuclear energy. As the main nuclear fuel, uranium is not only the shortage of terrestrial resource but also pose potential threat to the environment. To figure out these dilemma, various polymers have been widely developed to remove U(VI) from wastewater or extract U(VI) from seawater due to abundant reactive sites, high adsorption efficiency, large surface areas and controlled porous structure. Herein, the recent advances concerning U(VI) removal from seawater or wastewater on various polymer-bearing adsorbents (i.e., metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), covalent-organic frameworks (COFs) and the other polymers) were summarized at large. The effect of different modification methods, influencing factors and interaction mechanism of U(VI) on these polymers were reviewed in details. Finally, the current problems as well as future direction of various polymer adsorbents toward U(VI) removal was provided. The review hopefully provides high-efficiency polymer adsorbents for the removal of uranium from aqueous solution or natural seawater.