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To comply with regulations and mitigate environmental pollution, efficient technologies are required for treating chromium-contaminated industrial wastewater. To develop a safe and simple method for the reduction of toxic chromium(VI) to the less harmful chromium(III), we proposed using radiation-induced graft polymerization. This method allows for any functional group to be introduced into conventional polymeric materials, which enables the synthesis of solid adsorbents with good handling properties. Herein, we synthesized a fibrous adsorbent with amidoxime functional groups that have a high affinity for chromium, and investigated the changes in the chromium valence state over time in the amidoxime-grafted adsorbent. Fourier transform infrared analysis suggested that the amide groups were oxidized by chromium(VI) and converted to nitro groups. Furthermore, in situ X-ray absorption fine structure analysis revealed that most of the chromium(VI) was reduced to chromium(III) relatively early during the adsorption process, followed by gradual changes in the bonding structure of the amidoxime-chromium complex. Although more than one day was required to completely stabilize the structure of chromium(III), this approach provides a safe method for chromium(VI) removal. Furthermore, because wastewater can be treated via simple circulation with this method, it is easier to operate than coagulation sedimentation or electrochemical methods. Thus, it is expected to contribute to the development of practical technologies for wastewater treatment.

A chelating fabric was prepared by graft polymerization of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) onto a nonwoven fabric, followed by attachment reaction of N-methyl-D-glucamine (NMDG) using an organic solvent-free process. The graft polymerization was performed by immersing the gamma-ray pre-irradiated fabric into the GMA emulsion, while the attachment reaction was carried out by immersing the grafted fabric in the NMDG aqueous solution. The chelating capacity of the chelating fabric prepared by reaction in the NMDG aqueous solution without any additives reached 1.74 mmol/g, which further increased to above 2.0 mmol/g when surfactant and acid catalyst were added in the solution. The boron chelation of the chelating fabric was evaluated in a batch mode. Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer (FTIR) was used to characterize the fabrics. The chelating fabric can quickly chelate boron from water to form a boron ester, and a high boron chelating ability close to 18.3 mg/g was achieved in the concentrated boron solution. The chelated boron can be eluted completely by HCl solution. The regeneration and stability of the chelating fabric were tested by 10 cycles of the chelation-elution operations. Considering the organic solvent-free preparation process and the high boron chelating performance, the chelating fabric is promising for the boron removal from water.

A nonwoven fabric adsorbent loaded with 2-ethylhexyl hydrogen-2-ethylhexylphosphonate (EHEP) was developed for the separation and recovery of dysprosium (Dy) and neodymium (Nd) from an aqueous solution. The adsorbent was prepared by the radiation-induced graft polymerization of a methacrylate monomer with a long alkyl chain onto a nonwoven fabric and the subsequent loading of EHEP by hydrophobic interaction and chain entanglement between the alkyl chains. The adsorbent was evaluated by batch and column tests with a Dy (III) and Nd (III) aqueous solution. In the batch tests, the adsorbent showed high Dy (III) adsorptivity close to 25.0 mg/g but low Nd (III) adsorptivity below 1.0 mg/g, indicating that the adsorbent had high selective adsorption. In particular, the octadecyl methacrylate (OMA)-adsorbent showed adsorption stability in repeated tests. In the column tests, the OMA-adsorbent was also stable and showed high Dy (III) adsorptivity and high selectivity in repeated adsorption–elution circle tests. This result suggested that the OMA-adsorbent may be a promising adsorbent for the separation and recovery of Dy (III) and Nd (III) ions.