Sensitive Determination of Uranium in Natural Waters Using UV-Vis Spectrometry After Preconcentration by Ion-Imprinted Polymer-Ternary Complexes

The main purpose of this study was to achieve a substantial increase in the sensitivity of the uranium determination using UV-Vis spectrometry. To achieve this goal, ion-imprinted polymers were prepared for the uranyl (imprint) ion by the formation of a ternary (salicylaldoxime and 4-vinylpyridine) complex in 2-methoxy ethanol (porogen) following copolymerization with methacrylic acid. The synthesized polymers were characterized by FTIR analysis and thermogravimetric analysis. In the preconcentration step, the optimal pH was determined to be between values of 3.5 and 6.5. The adsorbed UO22+ was completely eluted by 10 mL of 3.0 mol L-1 HClO4. The developed method was applied to uranium (VI) determination in natural water samples. By using the initial volume of 500 mL and final volume of 5 mL, a concentration of 1 mu g L-1 can be determined by applying the developed method in this study.