Recovery of Uranium from Sea Water by Using Chelating Resins Containing Amidoxime Groups

Abstract

Kumamoto University; Kurokami, Kumamoto-shi 860 Japan It was found that the chelating resins (RNH) containing amidoxime groups show the selective adsorption ability for uranium in sea water. The favorable chelating resins were prepared by the reaction of macroreticular acryronitrile-divinylbenzene copolymer beads with hydroxylamine in methanol. When sea water (10⁴ times as large as the resin volume) was passed through the RNH column at the space velocity of 60 hr^-1, 80% of uranium on that in sea water was recovered. The elution of uranium adsorbed on RNH was accomplished by passing 1 N sulfuric acid solution through it. The recycle of adsorption and elution was found to be satisfactory.