Complexation of uranyl ion by polyvinylimidazole: Electrochemical preparation and leaching tests investigations

In this work, we intend to check the claims of an U.S. Patent (Westinghouse E.C.) which describes an original treatment for low level activity radioactive wastes. The process deals with electrochemical preparation of polyvinylimidazole (PVI) which is a polymer capable of complexing uranyl ions. We confirm the complexation of uranyl ions by PVI in various media by FT-IR and UV-Visible analysis but all these complexes were found to be soluble in water so we put forward new complexes with an additional polymer to shape out insoluble complex. Leaching tests demonstrate the efficiency of our process.