Efficient selective adsorption of uranium using a novel eco-friendly chitosan-grafted adenosine 5'-monophosphate foam

In the present study, a novel eco-friendly foam (CS-AMP) was successfully prepared by grafting adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP) with high biocompatibility onto environment-friendly monomer chitosan (CS). The CS-AMP foam was used to absorb uranium and exhibited an efficient selective adsorption of uranium from aqueous solution and natural seawater. Due to the phosphate group of AMP, the CS-AMP foam shows an excellent adsorption capacity of 311 mg/g (pH 5.0 and 308 K) for uranium, which is much higher than that of CS-PTA foam without modification by AMP. The adsorption process is fitted well with Sips isothermal and pseudo-second-order kinetic models. As a highly selective uranium adsorbent, it is expected to be applied to extract uranium from wastewater and seawater.