Abstract
The effects of the hydrolysis pH and temperature of aluminium chloride in the presence of activated carbon on the properties of the products were studied to clear the preparation conditions of the composite adsorbent (C-Al-OH) for the extraction of uranium from sea water.
Aluminium contents of the adsorbent increased when the hydrolysis pH and the temperature became higher. The adsorptive capacity for uranium was closely related to the physical and chemical properties of the adsorbent: the capacity increased in proportion to the mean pore size and the quantity of acid group, which was determined as alkaline consumption, whereas the capacity was inversely proportional to the specific surface area of the adsorbent. Most of the adsorbent was amorphous in X-ray diffraction pattern. Several adsorbents, which showed crystallinity in X-ray diffraction pattern, showed their low adsorptive capacity for uranium.
The Freundlich's relationship was observed between the concentration and the capacity of uranium. Uranium uptake from natural sea water by the adsorbent was found to be 160-280μg/g-adsorbent after 30 days stirring.
