Synthesis and characterization of new ion-imprinted polymer for separation and preconcentration of uranyl (UO22+) ions

UO22+ ion-imprinted polymer materials used for solid-phase extraction were prepared by copolymerization of a ternary complex of uranyl ions with styrene and divinyl benzene in the presence of 2,2′-azobisisobutyronitrile. The imprinted particles were leached by HCl 6 M. Various parameters in polymerization steps such as DVB/STY ratio, time of polymerization and temperature of polymerization were varied to achieve the most efficient uranyl-imprinted polymer. X-ray diffraction (XRD), infra-red spectroscopy (IR), thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), UV-vis and nitrogen sorption were used to characterize the polymer particles. The XRD results showed that uranyl ions were completely removed from the polymer after leaching process. IR Analysis indicated that the N,N′-ethylenebis(pyridoxylideneiminato) remained intact in the polymer even after leaching. Some parameters such as pH, weight of the polymer, elution time, eluent volume and aqueous phase volume which affects the efficiency of the polymer were studied.