This paper describes the preparation and the characteristics of a fibrous adsorbent to recover uranium from sea water, The adsorbent was prepared by treating weakly acidic cation exchange fiber having carboxyl group with titanyl sulfate-sulfuric acid solution and subsequently with alkali. The results obtained are as follows:
1) When the fibrous adsorbent was treated with TiCl4/CH2Cl2 solution, the adsorptive capacity for uranium in sea water became 1.5-2 times higher than that of the untreated one: 77 μg-U/g-Ad or 640 μg-U/g-TiO2.
2) Uranium adsorption test was carried out with the fibrous adsorbent reinforced by polypropylene fiber in knitted form. The capacity was found to be 15 μg-U/g-Ad or 1.0 μg-U/cm2 for the soaking in sea water for 120h.
3) The reduction of the capacity after repeated use was observed, but the recovery was effected by soaking in dilute hydrochloric acid. Loss of titanic acid from the fiber was not considerable during the adsorption experiment.
