A
fiber-based adsorbent and a related method of manufacture are provided. The
fiber-based adsorbent includes
polymer fibers with grafted side chains and an increased surface area per unit weight over known fibers to increase the adsorption of dissolved metals, for example
uranium, from aqueous solutions. The
polymer fibers include a circular morphology in some embodiments, having a
mean diameter of less than 15 microns, optionally less than about 1 micron. In other embodiments, the
polymer fibers include a non-circular morphology, optionally defining multiple gear-shaped, winged-shaped or lobe-shaped projections along the length of the polymer fibers. A method for forming the
fiber-based adsorbents includes irradiating
high surface area polymer fibers,
grafting with polymerizable reactive monomers, reacting the grafted fibers with
hydroxylamine, and conditioning with an alkaline solution.
High surface area fiber-based adsorbents formed according to the
present method demonstrated a significantly improved
uranium adsorption capacity per unit weight over existing adsorbents.