Synthesis and analytical applications of uranyl ion imprinted polymer particles

Uranyl ion imprinted polymer particles were prepared by the co-polymerization of styrene monomer and a crosslinking agent divinyl benzene in the presence of UO22+ -5,7-dichloroquinoline-8-ol-4-vinyl 2 pyridine ternary complex as template where in UO22+ is the imprint 2 ion in presence of 2,2'-azo-bis-isobutyronitrile as initiator. The Uranyl ion was removed from the polymer particles by leaching with 1:1 HCl, which leaves cavities in the polymer particles. The UO22+ leached polymer particles preconcentrate UO22+ ion from dilute aqueous and synthetic seawater solutions. Further, these particles find use in the separation of UO22+ ion from various bivalent, trivalent, and tetravalent, inorganic ions. The accuracy of the developed enrichment procedure was tested by analyzing marine sediment certified reference material supplied by National Research Council (NRC), Canada. Further, the developed procedure has been successfully employed to analyze real soil and sediment samples.