Fine fibrous amidoxime adsorbent synthesized by grafting and uranium adsorption-elution cyclic test with seawater

Seko, Noriaki; Katakai, Akio; Tamada, Masao; Sugo, Takanobu*; Yoshii, Fumio

Fibrous amidoxime adsorbents were prepared by radiation-induced co-grafting of acrylonitrile (AN) and methacrylic acid (MAA) and subsequent amidoximation. Adsorption of uranium in seawater was evaluated by pumping seawater into the adsorbent column. The best monomer ratio of AN and MAA was 7:3 for continual usage of uranium adsorption. Though hydrochloric acid is an effective eluting agent for the metals adsorbed on the adsorbent, amidoxime groups were simultaneously damaged after five cycles of adsorption-desorption. This deterioration was reduced by an alkaline treatment of the adsorbents after each elution. Furthermore, various organic acids were examined as elution agents. It was found that the 80% of adsorption activity was still maintained after five cycles of adsorption-desorption when tartaric acid was used for eluting agent.